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MISS JANE H. THOMAS. 



OLD DAYS 



NASHVILLE, TENN 



IReminiscences. 



BY MISS JANE H. THOMAS, 



llepriiited from the N(is//r!7/r Daily America n, 1895 -</> 



Nashville, Tenn.: 

Publishing House Methodist Episcopal Church, Soutil 

Barbee & Smith, Agents. 

1897. 



INTRODUCTION, 

Jane Henry Thomas was born in Cumberland Coun- 
ty, Va., September 2,1800. Her great-great-grandfa- 
ther on her mother's side of the family, William Ballew, 
a Huguenot refugee, came to Virginia to live, and there 
he married Dorothy Parker. Her great-grandfather, 
Thomas Ballew, married Jane Thomas, a daughter of 
the Henry Hugh Thomas who was once Lord Mayor 
of London. She came to Virginia from England in 
the same ship with Isham Randolph. Jane H. Thom- 
as's grandfather, Thomas Ballew, married Chloe Bat- 
tersby, and their youngest daughter, Micah, was her 
mother. Her great-great-grandfather on her grand- 
mother Chloe Battersby's side of the family was named 
William Battersby. He^ was a captain in the King 
of England's Life Guard before he came to Virginia to 
live. The coat of arms now in the family was his. 
Her great-grandfather was also named William Bat- 
tersby. He married Jane Dunkley, the daughter of an 
Irish sea captain, who owned the vessel he commanded. 
A daughter of this William Battersby and Jane Dunk 
ley was the grandmother of Jane IL Thomas. Job 
Thomas, the great-grandfather of Jane H. Thomas on 
her father's side of the family, came from Pennsylva- 
nia to Virginia, and there married Elizabeth Hoggatt. 
Her family come from Manchester, England, and set- 
tled in Virginia. Her grandfather, Jesse Thomas, 
married Sallie Wood, who had come from London, 
England, to Virginia to live. Jane H. Thomas's fa- 



4 OLD DAYS IN NASHVILLE. 

ther, Jesse Thomas, married Micah Ballew. In Sep- 
tember, 1S04, they left their home in Cumberland 
County, Va., to settle in Nashville, Tenn. They had 
five children then, Jane being one of them. They had 
two six-horse wagons, but Mr. Thomas and his wife 
rode on horseback the entire journey, Mrs. Thomas 
carrying her youngest child in her lap. After a long 
and adventurous ride over the mountains, through 
the " Wilderness," and what was then called the 
" Cherokee Nation," they reached Nashville December 
24, 1804. Mr. Finch Scruggs, who was Mr. Thomas's 
brother-in-law, having married the third one of his 
seven sisters, accompanied him to Nashville, bringing 
his familv also with him. Soon after their arrival in 
Nashville they rented two blockhouses on some land 
belonging to Mr. David McGaxock, and on this 
land raised their first crop of corn in Tennessee. The 
following year Mr. Thomas moved over to the Tolbert 
farm, above Page's ferry. In 1809 he bought a farm 
on McCror3''s Creek, where he lived during the rest of 
his lifetime. This farm was not far from the famous 
clover-bottom farm owned by the Donelsons. In 1815 
Jane Thomas attended Mrs. Abercrombie's school, in 
company with other girls, who in after-years became 
the wives of distinguished men ; Mrs. President Polk, 
Mrs. Judge Catron, and others, among the number. 
That year her father died, and her school-days were 
ended. On the 20th day of September, 1820, she 
joined the Methodist Church. She was converted at 
Thomas's camp-ground. wShe was there with her aunt, 
Nancy Scruggs, and stayed in Mrs. Scruggs's tent 
during the meeting. Logan Douglas was the presiding 
elder. Sterling Brown, Sam Harwell, Robert Paine, 



OLD DAYS IN NASHVILLE. O 

James Porter, and Finch Scruggs were the preachers 
at that camp-meeting. In 1840 the old home place was 
deserted, and she hoarded in town at the St. Cloud Ho- 
tel until 1853 ; then she bought a little home for her- 
self, and kept house there until the civil war broke out. 
She left her home in the care of her servants, and went to 
Virginia in 1862 to nurse the sick and wounded soldiers 
of Lee's army at Warm Springs and other points in 
Virginia, and also in the Elliott Hospital in Nashville ; 
her work in the hospitals only ceasing at the entrance 
of Federal troops into Nashville as victors. She re- 
mained in Nashville until the close of the war, having 
during that time occupied her brother's house, it being 
in a better-protected locality than her own ; while he 
and his family " went South," and remained there until 
the war ended. In 1865 she again occupied her own 
home for a few years, but in the changed condition of 
things at that time, her old servants gone and old 
friends and neighbors removed, she was not happy, so 
she gave up her home, and became a member of her 
brother's household, where she has since lived. She was 
born two years after Washington's death, so has lived 
under the administration of every President of these 
United States except that of George Washington. She 
remembers when there were no sewing-machines, when 
all sewing w^as done by hand ; when spinning-wheels 
were in use in almost every household ; when mer- 
chants went to Philadelphia, and even to New York, 
from Nashville on horseback to buy their stocks of 
goods ; when fires were kindled by sparks emitted from 
the striking of flint and steel over spunk or tow, before 
the invention of matches ; when the Methodists held 
their meetings in the jail, and were congratulated by a 



6 OLD DAYS IN NASHVILLE. 

<^ood Presbyterian, at the dedication of their first 
church-bnilding, on "getting out of jail;" when Nash- 
ville's streets were lighted on dark nights by a single 
lantern carried by a watchman who walked about and 
cried the hours of the night at the same time, giving 
the " weather report " in language all his own ; when 
Lafayette and Louis Phillipe also visited Nashville. 
These and many other interesting recollections of the 
ninety-seven -year-old lady will be found in the follow- 
ing pages. 

She is still in the enjoyment of all her faculties, to a de- 
gree seldom experienced by those w^ho only reach their 
allotted threescore and ten years. She is a regular at- 
tendant at her Church services every Sunday, enjoys 
the society of her friends, loves to read and to keep her- 
self informed on current topics of the day. With her 
good health and good spirits she bids fair to live to be 
one hundred years of age. May she live Jojig and 
prosper ! 



CONTENTS. 

Letter I. 

PAOK 

Nashville as I Found It in 1804 9 

Letter IL 
Early Settlers — Indian Mound — The First Jail — 
The Whipping-Post 17 

Letter III. 
Hemp and Cotton Factories — Daily Paper — Mer- 
chant Mill — Theater 23 

Letter IV. 
Capt. Thomas's Militia Company — Old Univer- 
sity of Nashville 32 

Letter V. 

The Big Fire — Brick Storehouses — First Paper. 36 

Lp:tter VI. 

Prominent People — First Water- Works 46 

Letter VII. 
The Grundy- Anderson Senatorial Race — Lafay- 
ette's Visit and the Attendant Festivities 56 

Letter VIII. 
Recollections of Jenny Lind— Nashville's First 
Earthquake 61 

Letter IX. 
Clay and Polk in [846 — Harrison — Old Charac- 
ters — First Dentists — Religious Revival 65 



8 OLD DAYS IN NASHVILLE. 

Letter X. 



■A(iK 



Tlie Children's Friend — First Use of Morphine 
in Nash\ille 74 

Le'jtek XI. 
A Quilting- — Joke on a Long Nose — The Oldest 
Brick House 81 

Letter XIL 

A Time of Elahorate Entertainment S6 

Letter XIIL 
A French Dancing-School — The Fogg Residence 
and Its Appointments 91 

Letter XIV. 
The Good Times at Christmas — A Widower Not 
Easily Discouraged : 103 

Letter XV. 
How Two Girls Outwitted the Indians — A Visit 
from Gen. Washington 1 10 

Letter XVI. 
The First Methodist Conference Held in Nash- 
ville 117 

Letter XVII. 
Dr. Edgar, Pastor of First Presbyterian Church — 
Social Diversions in the Old Days 121 

Letter XVIII. 
Nashville During the War — Hospital Scenes — In 
the Hands of the Encmv i 28 




LETTER L 

Nashville as I Found It in 1804. 

EPTEMBER 1, 1804, my father started 
from Cumberland County, Va., in two 
six-horse wagons. One of these was his 
own ; the other he hired from Mr. Joseph Woolrich, 
who drove it. My mother rode horseback, and car- 
ried a child in her arms. My father rode his hunt- 
ing-pony, named " Dreadnaught." We were three 
months coming from Virginia to Tennessee, and 
did not reach Nashville until December 24, 1804. 
There was but one road, and that came through 
Cumberland Gap and Sequatchie Valley. We 
first struck the Cumberland River at Carthage, 
Tenn., where we ferried it; and, keeping on the 
east side, we reached Nashville opposite where 
Lick Branch empties into the river. There we 
crossed over on a ferry. Oliver Johnson, who 
was originally from Boston, was the ferryman. 
He had three sons (Oliver, Winslow, and Antho- 
ny), who ferried the boat across. He had six 
daughters. The oldest was named Hannah, and 
was a widow by the name of Gleason. After 
reaching here from Boston, she married David 
Snow, the first tinner in Nashville. The second 
daughter, Betsy, married Probate, a tailor. They 



10 OLD DAYS IN NASHVILLE. 

had one daughter, who married John B. McFer- 
rin. His next two daughters were Gabriel and 
Parnell. Gabriel died from poison, having taken 
yellow ocher instead of flower of sulphur. Par- 
nell married a farmer in Williamson County. An- 
other daughter married Knowles, the cooper. The 
two other boys, Oliver and Winslow, never married, 
as I now recall it; but Anthony was married twice, 
his first wife being Elizabeth Hobson, by whom 
he had three children, two daughters and a son; 
his second wife was the widow Cheney, her maid- 
en name being Mary Smith. The present post- 
master is her son. They had one daughter, the 
present Mrs. John Bransford. 



On the west side of the river, between Lick 
Branch and the Publishing House, an old lady b}^ 
the name of Hay kept a tavern; and her house, a 
one-story frame, was painted red. David Mc- 
Gavock at that time was living where the present 
cotton-factory now stands, his house having been 
pulled down to erect the same. He owned from the 
river to where Fisk University stands, Jefferson 
Street being the southern boundary, extending 
north to Sulphur Springs, on Buena Vista turnpike, 
and there joining the Beal Bosley place. David 
McGavock had two blockhouses at the head of the 
lower island, and they obtained their water from 
the Spout Spring. One of these my father rent- 
ed, and his brother-in-law, Phineas Scruggs, rent- 
ed the other. In 1805 they rented part of the 



OT.D DAYS IN NASHVn>T.E. 11 

McGavock farm, and where they cultivated it the 
old race-track stood up to a few years ago. 

David McGavock had six children, five sons and 
a daughter. His two eldest sons, John and James, 
were married, and lived on the east side of the 
river. James had two daughters, one of whom 
married Jeremiah George Harris, who w^as editor 
of a Democratic paper when Harrison was elected 
President; the other married Mr. Bryant. John 
was married twice, and had a large family, one 
of his daughters being the second wife of J. B. 
McFerrin. Frank, another son, married Amanda 
Harding, a sister of Gen. Harding, and the mother 
of Mr. David McGavock, Mr. John McGavock, 
Mrs. Susan Smith, and Mrs. Archie Cheatham. 
The next son, Lysander, married his cousin, and 
lived at Brentwood. His two youngest children, 
Hugh and Sallie, were twins. Hugh married 
Letitia Hagan, and Sallie married Mr. Ewing. 

The old man, David McGavock, after the death 
of his first wife, married the widow Hubble, by 
whom he had one son. Dr. David McGavock, 
who married Miss Caroline Pugsley, a daughter 
of Dr. Pugsley, a physician from London, Eng- 
land. Dr. David McGavock had two daughters, 
one of whom married Mr. Felix Cheatham ; and 
the other, Emmett Cockrill. 

There lived at that time a Mr. W. P. Ander- 
son, in a log house, near the Buena Vista sulfur 
springs. He married a Miss Bell, by whom he 
had three children: Musidere, CaroHne, and Ru- 



12 OLD DAYS IN NASHVIT.I.E. 

fus. Caroline married Paul, an attorney; Musi- 
dere married James Campbell, another attorney. 

The next place was Mr. Rivers's, who lived in 
a stone house. He was the father of Rev. Rich- 
ard M. Rivers, who died recently in Louisville, Ky. 
In 1807 my Grandfather Thomas's widow moved 
to Tennessee, and lived in that stone house; and 
her daughter Polly was married to Abner Pillow 
in that year. 

The next place was Beal Bosley's, who married 
Margery Shute, by whom he had three daughters. 
His second daughter, Elizabeth, married Thomas 
Harding in 1820; the youngest daughter, Marge- 
ry, married Hugh Irvin ; the oldest daughter mar- 
ried John Nicholl. 



Judge John McNairy married the widow^ Rob- 
ertson, who had been married twice before. She 
was Miss Bell, and her first husband was Mr. 
Hunt, who was killed by the Indians; her second 
was Gen. Robertson's brother, and he also was 
killed by the Indians. 



Between Mrs. Hay's tavern and the Square 
lived Mr. Aken, a hatter by trade, and ran a tav- 
ern which he called the *' Boatman's Tavern." 
His eldest daughter, Jennie, never married; his 
second, Elizabeth, married a steamboat captain by 
the name of Smith; and the youngest married 
Capt. Minor, another steamboat officer. 

The next house on the Square was owned by 



OLD DAYS IN NASHVILLE. 13 

Thomas Tolbert, who owned the whole eastern 
part of the Square. He ran a tavern also, in a 
hewn log house, which was located about the mid- 
dle of the present Ensley Block. He married 
Ruth Greer; and by her he had seven children, 
three boys and four girls. His oldest daughter 
married Elias S. Hall, a dry-goods merchant; his 
next daughter married Dr. Hogg; his next mar- 
ried Thomas Fletcher, an attorney; his next mar- 
ried her cousin, Mr. Tolbert. His oldest son was 
named Eli; and the other two, Joe and Tom. 

There was on the north side of the Square 
another tavern kept by a negro named " Black 
Bob." Later the Nashville Inn was built there. 
On the northwest corner of Market Street and the 
Square was the first brick *' office house" in 
Nashville. This was built by Dr. Claiborne, who 
married the oldest daughter of William Terry 
Lewis. It was two rooms deep and two stories 
high, the front room down-stairs being used as an 
office, while the other three were used as his resi- 
dence. North of this on Market Street was 
built by Dr. Henning the first brick residence 
ever erected in Nashville. This house was com- 
menced in 1805 and finished in 1806. It is still 
standing, and is now occupied by the Nashville 
Relief Society. It was called the Mansion House, 
and was run by a man named Brown as a select 
hotel. Adjoining this was a garden owned by 
Thomas Deaderick, after whom Deaderick Street 
was named. He married Miss Rawworth. He 



14 OLD DAYS IN NASHVILLE. 

lived in a frame cottage. His oldest daughter 
married a Stewart, and after the death of her first 
husband she married Mr. Drennon. His son 
David lived in St. Louis, Mo., and was a very 
elegant and handsome gentleman. His youngest 
son was named Dangerfield. 

Mr. Randall McGavock married Miss Sallie 
Rogers, a sister of Mrs. Felix Grundy, and she 
was the mother of Mr. John McGavock, of Frank- 
lin, Tenn. Dr. James May, who built the brick 
house adjoining Mr. McGavock, married Miss 
PoUv White, of Knoxville, Tenn., a sister of 
Hugh L. White, who was President of the United 
States Bank of Knoxville. 

Dr. May's first child was named James, the 
second John, the third Mary, the fourth Mar- 
garet, and the fifth Anthony. James married 
Miss Perkins, and her children were: first, Susan, 
who married Mr. Sam Perkins; second. Miss 
White May, who was never married; third mar- 
ried first Henr}^ Ew^ing, w^ho was killed at the 
battle of Murfreesboro, and next married Maj. 
Hardeman, of New Orleans, La.: the fourth 
child, Hugh May, was killed at Shiloh; and the 
fifth, Will May, is now living here. Mary Ma}', 
third child of Dr. May, married Dick Barry, b}' 
w^hom she had two children, William and Mary. 
William married a daughter of William Nichol. 
Mary never married. Mary May married for 
her second husband a Col. Martin, of Lebanon, 
Margaret, fourth child of Dr. May, married Hin- 



OLD DAYS IN NASHVILLE. 15 

ton Phillips, by whom she had three children, 
Mary, Jane, and Hugh. Dr. May died, and his 
widow married Judge John Overton, by whom 
she had three children, John, Annie, and Eliza- 
beth Cynthia Bell. John Overton's first wife was 
Rachel Harding, daughter of Thomas Harding 
and Elizabeth Bosley. His second wife was Miss 
Harriet Maxwell. He had one son by Rachel 
Harding, John Overton, Jr., who lived at Mem- 
phis. Annie Coleman Overton married Mr. Rob- 
ert Brinkley, of Memphis. Elizabeth Cynthia 
Bell Overton married Judge John M. Lea. 



At the time of 1804, ^vhere J. S. Reeves & Co.'s 
store now stands there stood a small one-story 
frame house used as a tavern and run by Thomas 
Childress, who married a Miss Curtis, and they 
had a beautiful daughter, Miss Paralee. On the 
northwest corner of what is now College Street 
and the Square stood a little house and about four 
acres of ground, owned by Mrs. Peck, who had 
a very fine spring on the lot of ground. On what 
is now the northwest corner of Cedar Street and 
the Square E. C. Hall had a storehouse and 
kept a general stock of merchandise. At the cor- 
ner of Cherry and Cedar Streets Mr. Hall built a 
frame dwelling where Thomas & Sons' coffee- 
house now stands. On the corner of Summer 
and Cedar Streets Dr. Sappington had a hewn log 
house with a long porch in front. Farther up on 
the hill, and about where Park Street is now, a 



16 OLD DAYS IN NASHVILLE. 

Mr. Turner had a log house ; and on top of the hill, 
where the Capitol now stands, Mr. John Bell 
had a frame house. The rest of the hill was 
Cedar Knob. Mr. Bell's house was afterward 
sold to George Washington Campbell, who had 
been previous to that United States Minister to 
Russia. He afterward sold Capitol Hill to the 
state, and the frame house was moved to just be- 
tween where the residences of Maj. Thomas and 
Dr. Charles Briggs now stands. 

About the corner of Spruce and Cedar Streets 
a man by the name of Pr3^or, a carpenter, had 
a frame house. On the southwest corner of 
what is now College and Cedar Streets there 
was a dwelling-house, and next to that a one-story 
storehouse owned b}- Thomas Kirkman, who ran 
a hardware-store. He was the ancestor of the nu- 
merous family of Kirkmans here, and his father 
was a major in the British army. The next house 
to that was James Irvin's store. He also ran a 
hardware-store. The next house was John 
Beard's, who ran a dr3^-goods store. All of these 
lots ran through to Cherry Street. Beard had 
two storehouses, the farther being a corner of 
what is now Deaderick Street and the Square ; 
and his son-in-law, Johnson, ran a dry-goods 
store. 



LETTER IL 

Early Settlers - Indian Mound — The First Jail —The 
Whipping^Post, 



li 



HE tirst white man that ever lived in Nash- 
ville was named Demonbreun. He lived 
in a cave just above the Blind Asylum. 
There were two entrances to this cave, one on the 
river and the other on the south side. He had three 
children born in the cave. He made his salt at the 
sulfur spring and hunted buffaloes and deer that 
came there for water. He built his house at the 
spring known as the " Demonbreun Spring," after 
he left the cave. 

On the north side of Lick Branch was a large 
Indian mound. When John H. Smith was Mayor 
he had it dug down to fill up College Street. On 
the Square there was a stone court-house and a 
whipping-post, a stone church, a stone jail house. 
Whenever a man stole a horse, or an3^thing worth 
over thirty dollars, he had his ears clipped at the 
ends. For smaller crimes he was tied to the whip- 
ping-post, his shirt was taken off, and he was given 
thirty-nine lashes with a cowhide. 



Wiley Barrow was a very prominent man. He 
had about ten acres of ground in South Nashville. 
He had a great many locust-trees on his place, and 

2 



18 OLD DAYS IN NASHVILLE. 

it was called " Barrow's Grove." His first wife 
was Jane Greer, a sister of Mrs. Tom Tolbert. 
He had three children. David and Alexander 
moved to Mississippi, where they both became 
distinguished men. His daughter, Jane, married 
a distinguished young lawyer, Henry Crabb. 
After the death of his first wife, Wiley Barrow 
married Miss Anne Beck. She had three chil- 
dren, Washington, Micajah, and John E. Wash- 
ington married Miss Anne Shelby, Micajah did 
not marry, and John E. moved to St. Louis. 



Christopher Stump and Raper had two keel- 
boats lashed together, which was called a barge. 
They used to gather up peltry, corn, and such 
things, and go to New Orleans in the fall. In the 
spring they returned and brought sugar, coffee, 
tea, rice, molasses, etc. The people went to them 
and laid in a supply to last until next spring. Cof- 
fee cost one dollar a pound and sugar fifty cents a 
pound. The country was bountifully supplied 
with all kinds of game: ducks, wild geese, tur- 
keys, etc. There was a beautiful bird about the 
color of a parrot, but not so large, called paroquet. 



Peter Bass, an enterprising and very prominent 
man, owned a tan-yard on Wilson's Branch, below 
Broad Street. His house was at the corner of 
High and Demonbreun Streets. He owned a great 
deal of land in that part of town. He had two 
sons, Eli and John M. He was a very energetic 



OLD DAYS IN NASHVILLE. 19 

man, and speculated in soldiers' claims and owned 
a great deal of land in Missouri. Eli, his oldest 
son, moved to Missouri, where he raised a family 
of very distinguished children. John M. was a 
lawyer, and married Miss Malvina Grundy, Judge 
Grundy's fourth daughter. Judge Grundy's eld- 
est daughter married Jacob McGavock; his sec- 
ond. Mason, a lawyer; Margaret married Dr. Ro- 
lins. Malvina married John M. Bass, as before 
mentioned; Maria married Masterson ; Felicia 
married Aiken, and after Aiken's death she mar- 
ried Dr. Robert Porter. John M. Bass's eldest 
daughter married Dr. Thomas Harding; Sallie 
married John O. Ewing; Maria married V. K. 
Stephenson; Mary married Henry Conner, of 
New Orleans; Felicia married Gen. Beal, of 
St. Louis. He had two sons. William, the old- 
est, married Caroline Watkins; John M., the 
youngest, married Miss Mary Berry. 



Alexander Porter lived on Cherry Street, just a 
little below Church Street. He married a Miss 
Massingill. His oldest son, James, married a lady 
from Louisiana, by whom he had one son, Alex- 
ander. After her death he married Amanda Mc- 
Nairy. She had no children. Alexander Por- 
ter's next child, Jane, married James Campbell. 
Penelope married James Wood. Matilda married 
Richard Greene. His youngest son, Robert, 
married Miss Wilhams. She died, and he married 
the widow Felicia Grundy Porter. 



20 OLD DAYS IN NASHVILLE. 

Nathan Ewing lived on the corner of Church 
and Cherry Streets. He was the clerk of court. 
His oldest child, Dr. John Overton Ewing, mar- 
ried Miss Douglas, of Kentucky. They had one 
child. He died, and his widow married John Boyd. 
Henry, the second son, married Miss Susan Grun- 
dy. Orvil married Mildred Williams. Edwin's 
wife was Miss Rebecca Williams. He now lives 
in Murfreesboro. Albert married Miss Campbell, 
of Wheeling, Va. She was Rev. x\lexander 
Campbell's daughter. Andrew, the youngest, 
married Miss Hines. She had one son and died, 
and he afterward married Rowena Williams. 



Rev. William Hume lived on Market Street, in 
South Nashville. He was a Presbyterian preach- 
er, and the first President of the old Nashville 
College. He was a very benevolent and promi- 
nent man, and performed the wedding ceremony 
of nearly everybody about here who married. Al- 
fred, his oldest son, the first Principal of public 
schools in Nashville, married Louisa Bradford. 
Jane married Sam Snowdan. Eliza married a 
Mr. Jones. She was the mother of Mr. Edgar 
Jones. John married Miss Petway. Rachel did 
not marry. 

Jonathan Robertson, a brother of Gen. Robert- 
son, married Miss Dolly Maclin. They lived on 
College Street in a log house. They had two 
daughters, Matilda and Betsy. Matilda married 



OLD DAYS IN NASHVILLE. 21 

John Childress, and Betsy married Washington L. 
Hannam, a lawyer. John Childress had a large 
farm near the Vanderbilt. It is Mr. Shields's pres- 
ent home. His eldest daughter, Jane, married 
Sam Marshall, and had two children. Matilda 
married Judge Catron. Minerva married Benja- 
min Litton. Jane married Judge Brown. Bessie 
was V. K. Stephenson's first wife. They had two 
children. John Childress had three sons, George, 
John, and James. George's first wife was Miss 
Vance. His second wife was Mary Jennings. 
James went to Arkansas, and lived in Benton. 



Washington L. Hannam, Betsy Childress's hus- 
band, ow^ned a brick house on High Street. He 
built the house where Mr. Pilcher now lives. He 
had but two children, a son and a daughter. He 
sold his place to John Bell, whose first wife was 
Miss Sarah Dickerson. When he bought the 
place from Hannam, Hannam moved from here to 
Mississippi. It was afterward sold to John Kirk- 
man, who built the stores now on Church Street 
between High and Vine. Bell built all the houses 
from Mr. Pilcher's to the club-house. 



Judge Searcy's wife was Miss Susan Wendal, 
a very beautiful woman. They were very prom- 
inent people. They lived in a frame house on the 
corner of Deaderick and Cherry Streets. 



When I came to Nashville the first physicians 



22 OLD DAYS IN NASHVILLE. 

were Drs. May, Henning, Claiborne, Watkins, 
and Sappington. 

There was an old Indian woman, called " Gran- 
ny Nell," who was a female doctor. She was a 
full-blooded Indian. She got drunk every Christ- 
mas, got on a horse, and galloped around the 
Public Square three or four times. This hap- 
pened every Christmas. She had a daughter, 
named Charlotte, also a doctor. 



John Thomas was a colored barber, and was a 
very prominent negro. He had a garden, and 
supplied a great many people with vegetables. He 
lived on Summer Street, and had a large family of 
boys and girls. His oldest daughter married Gra- 
ham, a barber. She had a big wedding, and in- 
vited all the prominent white people in town, and 
they all went. He was a very respectable, up- 
right, humble negro. Gen. Andrew Jackson at- 
tended the wedding, and Dr. McNairy danced the 
reel with the bride. 



LETTER III, 

Hemp and Cotton Factories — Daily Paper Merchant 
Mill Theater. 




ILLIAM TERRILL LEWIS was one of 
the wealthiest men in Nashville when I 
came here. He had six daughters. He 
lived in the house in South Nashville which is now 
used as a Catholic hospital. It is called Fairfield. 
His eldest daughter married Dr. Claiborne, who 
built the first brick office in Nashville. His next 
daughter married Alfred Baulch, a lawyer; the 
next, John H. Eaton, who was one of President 
Jackson's most prominent men. The next daugh- 
ter married William B. Lewis, and the youngest 
married Baker. William B. Lewis's daughter 
married George Washington. She died, and he 
married Miss Jane Smith. 



A man named Boswith had a hemp-factory on 
Water Street, w^here he made bags and ropes and 
such things. George Posier owned from where 
Phillips & Buttorff's store now is down to Church 
Street. He had a cotton-factory. He spun 
thread, but did not weave any cloth. He kept a 
dry-goods store also. Beside these stores, his 
dweUing-house and garden were on College 
Street. Across the alley a man named WilHam 



24 OLD DAYS IN NASHVILLE. 

Condon lived in a two-story brick. He had a 
very distinguished son, a young lawyer. Farther 
up on College Street Robert B. Currey's famil}- 
lived. When Lafayette was in Nashville Mr. 
Curre}^ kept the post-office, and entertained him 
in that house. Thomas Hill, the father of Mrs. 
Emeline Hamilton and grandfather of Mr. J. D. 
Hamilton, was clerk in George Posier's store. 
He afterward became a prominent merchant, and 
his dwelling and store were on College Street, 
where J. H. Fall & Co.'s store now is. He had 
three children, Robert, Emeline, and Susan. Em- 
eline married Mortimer Hamilton, whose oldest 
daughter, Leonore, became the wife of John J. 
Davies, a lawyer of Kentucky. Another daugh- 
ter married E. R. Richardson, a merchant on the 
Square. Susan Hill married Mr. Saffron, and 
Robert died young. 



Joel Lewis, another very prominent man, lived 
where the Catholic convent now is in South Nash- 
ville. He had a large family, and was a very 
wealthy man. His eldest daughter, Charlotte, 
married Dr. King. After his death she married 
Thomas Claiborne. She had three sons and one 
daughter. One of her sons married, and lived in 
the house which is now used as a Catholic orphan 
asylum. He married his cousin, Miss King, of 
Abingdon, Va. Her daughter, Elizabeth King, 
married Dr. McCall. Joel Lewis's next daughter 
married Dr. Lea, an uncle of Judge John M. Lea. 



OLD DAYS IN NASHVILLE. 25 

He had several sons, one of whom became a very 
prominent man of Huntsville, Ala. 



Dr. Coleman built a house in South Nashville. 
It was a one-story house, wdth five or six rooms in 
a row, and a latticed porch in front. He had 
some very pretty daughters. He sold the place 
and moved to Huntsville, Ala. Maj. Rutledge, 
a very distinguished and wealthy man, bought his 
place and lived there. His daughter Mary mar- 
ried a young lawyer from Boston, Mr. Fogg, w^ho 
became a very useful citizen of Nashville. Mr. 
Rutledge 's son Arthur married a daughter of 
Judge Underwood, of Kentucky. Mr. Fogg 
lived on the corner of Church and High Streets 
until he died. He had two sons; one died just a 
few days before he was to have been married to 
Miss Martin, and the other, a lieutenant under 
Gen. Zollicoffer, was killed at the same time that 
Gen. Zollicoffer was killed. 



Mr. Anthony Foster owned twelve or thirteen 
acres where Mr. Keith's home now is, and built 
the house he lives in. His wife was a Miss Beck- 
with, of Kentucky. He was a very benevolent, 
hospitable, and wealthy man. His wife's sister 
was Mr. Thomas Yeatman's first wife. She had 
one child and died, and Mr. Yeatman married 
Miss Jane Irvin. She had four children — James, 
Tom, Emma, and Harry. James married Miss 
Pope; Tom married her sister. Emma married 



26 OLD DAYS IN NASHVILLE. 

Col. Player, and Hariy married Miss Mary Polk, 
daughter of Mr. Lucius Polk. In 1807 Benjamin 
Bradford's brother-in-law, Mr. Tunstel, began to 
publish a paper in Nashville. In 1808 his cousin, 
Thomas G. Bradford, came from Lexington, Ky., 
and bought him out. He published a daily paper 
here from 1808 until after Gen. Jackson was 
elected President. His paper was first called the 
Clarion. In 1808 he married Chloe Thomas, my 
eldest sister. After Gen. Jackson was elected 
President he was made Treasurer, and held the 
position until Harrison's election, in 1840. 



A man named Love built a merchant mill below 
the mouth of Lick Branch, where he made flour 
and spun thread. It was burned down. 



Where the Normal College grounds now are 
Pryor, Anderson & Rutherford had a race-track. 
Old Mr. Rains had a farm just beyond this. He 
used to come to town, and sometimes stay very 
late at night. When he went home he had to 
pass the race-track, and he always said that he 
saw Dick Pryor, Patton Anderson, and the devil 
killing race-horses. Mr. Richard Cross, a wealth}^ 
and influential young man, lived in South Nash- 
ville. He owned several lots on Broad Street. 
He died of consumption w^hen quite 3^oung, and 
having never married he left all his property to his 
nephew and niece. His niece. Miss Gordon, mar- 
ried Gen. Zollicoffer, from Germany. 



OLD DAYS IN NASHVILLE. 27 

Judge White, a prominent lawyer, owned a little 
farm on Broad Street from High to Vine Street. 
He had a large family, and lived in a one-story 
brick house just back of Hume School. His wife 
was Miss Glascow. His eldest daughter married 
Mr. Ben Bedford; EHzabeth married Mr. Whit- 
ticer; the next married Mr. Donelson. Mr. Ben 
Bedford's first wife died soon after they were 
married, and he married Miss Nancy White, 
Judge White's fourth daughter and his first wife's 
sister. The youngest daughter married Mr. Joe 
Craighead, whose mother was Miss Irvin. Her 
first husband was Mr. Dickerson, whom Gen. 
Jackson killed in a duel. After his death she 
married Mr. John Craighead, and had two sons, 
Joseph and Thomas. Thomas married Miss John- 
son, and Joseph's wife was Miss White, as before 
mentioned.' She had three children, two sons and 
a daughter. Her daughter married Mr. John Bun- 
ton, who now lives in Nashville in a house built 
on part of the land owned by her grandfather, Mr. 
White. 

Joseph T. Elliston came to Nashville in 1807, a 
young man and a silversmith. He married Miss 
Elizabeth Mullen. He commenced business on 
Market Street on the lot where the St. Charles 
Hotel used to be. He was an upright Christian 
gentleman. He was very prosperous in business, 
and accumulated a large amount of propert}^ in 
Nashville and vicinity. His oldest child was Jane, 



28 OLD DAYS IN NASHVILLE. 

the next Harriet, the next Adehne, the next Jo- 
seph, and the youngest William. His wife died 
in 1816, when William was a young child. His 
oldest son was killed in Kentucky. Harriet mar- 
ried Mr. Quinn, the first local Methodist preacher 
in Nashville. He kept a bookstore on the corner 
of College and Union Streets. He had three 
daughters: Sarah, Louisa, and Harriet. Sarah 
married Mr. Moore. Louisa married and went to 
Philadelphia to live. After the death of his first 
wife Joseph Elliston married a widow, Mrs. Black- 
man. Adeline, his third child, married Mr. Odum, 
a brother of her stepmother. Joseph married Miss 
Mitchell, of Sumner County, and William married 
Miss Body, a granddaughter of his stepmother. 



The first theater in Nashville w^as an old frame 
salt-warehouse on Market Street belonging to John 
H. Smith. It contained only one large room, and 
the seats were arranged as they were at the old 
race-track at West Side Park. The stage was a 
small raised platform. Row & Russell were the 
managers. The first play I ever attended, in 1819, 
was called " The Robbers." Mrs. Russell and 
Mrs. Row w^ere the lady performers. Mr. Lud- 
loe, a very handsome young actor, who came here 
from the North, went to Franklin, ran away and 
married Miss Murray, sister of A. B. Murra}^ 
who danced "The Fisher's Hornpipe" between 
the farce and the play. This was his wife's 
first appearance on the stage. She was dressed 



OLD DAYS IN NASHVILLE. 21) 

in pink silk, low neck and short sleeves, with a 
short skirt. She had wreaths of roses around the 
bottom of her skirt, her neck and arms, and on 
the top of her shoes. She became a very noted 
actress. Her husband had a very beautiful voice. 
After the battle of New Orleans the favorite song 
was ''The Hunters of Kentucky," and Mr. Lud- 
loe sang this between the farce and the play. 
Part of it was : 

Ye gentlemen and ladies fair 

Who grace this famous city, 
Come, listen, if you've time to spare. 

While I rehearse this ditty; 
And for the opportunity 

Conceive yourselves quite lucky, 
For 'tis not often that you see 

A hunter from Kentucky. 
Chorus. 

O Kentucky, the hunters of Kentucky ; 
O Kentucky, the hunters of Kentucky. 

Old Pakenham, he made his brags. 

If he in fight was lucky, 
He'd have our girls and cotton-bags 

In spite of old Kentucky. 
And when so close that we saw 'em wink. 

We thought it time to stop 'em; 
It would have done you good, we think, 

To have seen Kentuckians drop 'em. 

After Russell and Row left, Drake was manager 
of the theater. He had a beautiful daughter, an 
actress, and two sons, who were also actors. 
Alex Drake ran away and married Miss Denny, 
of Lexington, Ky., who also became a noted ac- 
tress. Miss Julia Drake was said to be the hand- 



30 OI.D DAYS IN NASHVILLE. 

somest woman on the stage at that time. She 
married Mr. Dean, an actor. Her daughter, 
Julia Dean, became a noted actress. Her favor- 
ite play was ''The Lady of Lyons." 

Caldwell was the next manager, and he built a 
new theater on the corner of Union and Summer 
Streets. Forrest and Parsons were two very hand- 
same actors who came from Kentucky. They 
became very distinguished tragedians. Forrest 
went to New York, and Parsons was converted 
under the preaching of Maffitt, and became a 
Methodist preacher. After Caldwell left, Mr. 
Green took charge of the theater. He had two 
beautiful daughters, Mrs. McKenzie and Mrs. 
Jefferson. Mrs. McKenzie was considered a 
rnost magnificent actress, but she died of con- 
sumption. After her death her husband, who had 
never been an actor, was a clerk in Snow's tin- 
shop for a long time. Mrs. Jefferson was the 
grandmother of Joe Jefferson, the well-known ac- 
tor of the present day. The last play I attended 
was in 1848. Charlotte Cushman played in " Mac- 
beth." The plays, as a rule, were of much better 
style then than they are now. 



Shackelford was a bricklayer. He owned four 
or five acres of ground from McLemore Street to 
the depot. He built a brick house on the corner 
of Broad, where Christ Church now stands. He 
married Miss Agnes Clopton. He had a brick- 
yard between Walnut and McLemore Streets. 



OLD DAYS IN NASHVILLE. 31 

He sold out to McLemore and went to Clarks- 
ville. Mr. McLemore's daughter, Miss Katie, 
was a very beautiful young lady. Her father 
married Miss Donaldson, Mrs. John Donaldson's 
daughter and a niece of Mrs. Gen. Jackson. 
Mrs. Walker, a widow from Virginia, had a 
large family of handsome sons and beautiful 
daughters. Her oldest daughter married Sandifer 
Hoggett, a prominent young lawyer. He died 
eleven months after their marriage. She was the 
belle of Nashville for several years after his death, 
and then married Dr. Horton, a United States offi- 
cer. Her oldest brother, James, married Kittie 
McLemore. McLemore then sold out to Judge 
Maney, and went to Memphis. Judge Maneyhad 
a large family. His eldest son, George, married 
Miss Elizabeth Crutcher. His next son, Henry, 
a very prominent lawyer, was a member of the 
Legislature, and died of consumption when very 
young. His eldest daughter married a man from 
Asheville, N. C. Annie married John Seaborn, 
a son of the Methodist preacher. James Maney 
married a young lady from Richmond, Va. He 
now lives on Broad Street. Dr. William Maney 
married Miss Bettie Stone, and lived on Hayes 
Street. The youngest son, Frank, lived in New 
Orleans. 



LETTER IV, 

Capt, Thomas's Militia Company — Old University 
of Nashville, 




^N 1812 Jesse W. Thomas, my father, was 
a mihtia captain. His muster - ground 
IJ was Wilham McMurray's farm, near 
Todd's Knob, on the Lebanon turnpike. I was a 
child twelve years old, and was delighted when 
I saw him dress in his uniform. He wore white 
pants, white vest, blue cloth coat trimmed in red, 
and brass buttons. His hat was crescent shape 
with a cockade, with a silver eagle on one side, 
and a large white feather tipped with red. He 
wore a sword and belt and a ruffled shirt and high 
boots. This is his muster-list, and contains the 
names of those who composed his company: Jesse 
W. Thomas, captain; John Drury, William Mc- 
Murray, John Thomas, John A. Allen, Benjamin 
Caps, William Murphey, Andrew Edmunson, 
Samuel Williams, Charles Mulherren, Robert 
Wood, John Buchanan, John Roberts, Joshua Fu- 
quay, Daniel Treadwell, John B. Hall, James Mc- 
Ferrin, Henry Owen, Talton East, Joseph Ander- 
son, John Irvin, x\ntony Clopton, Thomas Fuquay, 
Zachariah Noel, Thomas Bernard, Samuel William- 
son, Edward H. East, Graves Pennington, Will- 
iam L. Carter, Archibald Pullin, Edmund Owen, 



OLD DAYS IN NASHVILLE. 33 

Ansylan Barnes, Joseph Castleman, Samuel Mc- 
Murray, James Austin, William Quales, Samuel 
Ridley, George W. Charlton, George Aiken, 
John McFerrin, Sherrod Hall, Samuel Lyndal, 
Zachariah Hayes, Jeremiah Roberts, Henry Hayes, 
Amos Robertson, Silas Flournoy, John Elgin, 
James Love, Henry Gray, Richard Smith, Will- 
iamson Birthright, Leonard Keeling, James Mc- 
Daniel, Samuel Blair, John Noppe, James Lea, 
James Sample, James McBride, Robert Edmunson, 
George Buchanan, Zachariah Harrison, Allen Mc- 
Niece, Hopehull McNiece, James Carter, Archi- 
bald Hall, Richard Nolyboy, Thomas Bird, John 
E. Hall, Christopher Clarton, Micah Snidon, Zach- 
ariah Howell, Henry Graves. 



Dr. Priestly was President oi the old University 
of Nashville about 1818 and 1819. Old Dr. 
Troust was the geologist and Mr. Sours was the 
Latin and Greek professor. Mr. Len Cheatham 
kept a boarding-house for the boys. Mr. Hamil- 
ton was a very eccentric old bachelor. There 
were some very wild boys here from Alabama and 
Mississippi who were always playing pranks on 
him. One night the boys got a calf and took it 
up to Mr. Hamilton's room, on the third floor, put 
it in the room, and left it there. When he went to 
his room and found it there he was very much 
frightened and did not know how to get it down 
the steps, and had to get some of the boys to help 
him. The professors tried to find out who did it, 
3 



34 OLD DAYS IN NASHVILLE. 

but could not do so. It was against the rule for. 
the boys to carry firearms of any kind One of 
the boys said that he kept them in his room all the 
time. All such things had to be reported to the 
professors, and it was reported to them that this 
young man had firearms in his room and would 
not give them up. The professors called him up 
and asked him if this was true, and he said yes. 
They told him that he must give them up, and he 
went to his room, got his andirons, and brought 
them and laid them at the professors' feet. It was 
also against the rules to go to the theater, and 
there was a young man who had been two or three 
times, and he was brought before the faculty. 
Mr. Litton was one of the professors, and he said: 
"Mr. Perkins, were you at the theater last 
night? " He replied: "Mr. Litton, if I had been 
there, you would be the last person I would tell 
about it." 

Some of the students killed a turke}^ and tied it 
to Mr. Cheatham's front gate, and put a piece of 
paper in its mouth with this written on it: "I ad- 
vise all you young men not to come here to board 
unless you want to die of starvation, for that is 
what killed me." 

My mother lived in the country on a farm, and 
one day I made a large old-fashioned peach potpie 
and put it in a bucket, and got four very large wa- 
termelons and sent them down to four of the stu- 
dents: Mr. Dancy, from Alabama; Mr. Abe Lit- 
ton, a professor; Charlie Dickerson; and another 



OLD DAYS IN NASHVILLE. 35 

young man from Louisiana. At an oratorical con- 
test in April, which was held at McKendree 
Church, Mr. Heiskell, one of the students, had for 
his subject " Poets and Poetry" and made one of 
the best speeches ever made in that college, and 
Mr. Litton said that there would not be another 
such speech made in this century by a young man 
in that college. A war broke out in the West, and 
he went to join the army and never returned to 
graduate. That same year there were several 
bright young men at school. Among them were 
Hardy Burtin, John M. Lea, John Stephens, Mr. 
Gilchrist, from Alabama, and WilHam Menefee. 
Nearly every one of that class became distin- 
guished men. I remember when Mr. Gilchrist 
said in his address at Commencement that he 
could always tell an aristocrat by his feet, because 
they always had a high instep, and he put his foot 
out to show us. 

"Parson" Hume had a very talented son, Al- 
fred, who graduated here. After he graduated he 
taught school all his life. 



LETTER V, 

The Big Fire — Brick Storehouses— First Paper, 




N 1812 there was a large fire. All the 
houses on both sides of Market Street, 
from the Square to the St. Charles Ho- 
tel, were destroyed. The people then decided it 
would be best to build only brick houses. The first 
house, where Lebeck Brothers' store recently stood 
on the Square, was built by Mr. Irvin, a dry-goods 
merchant. He had three sons and one daughter. 
From Irvin' s store to Union Street was owned by 
Peter Bass, and he built a row of brick houses. 
His first store was rented to William Carroll, who 
kept a nail-factory. The next store was a dry- 
goods store, kept by Robert and William Arm- 
strong, uncles of Judge John M. Lea. Robert 
married Margaret Nichol, Josiah Nichol's eldest 
daughter. William married Nancy Irvin, whose 
father owned the corner store. One of her 
brothers was a very talented and distinguished 
physician. He was very small, and was always 
called " Little Dr. Irvin." He lived to be an old 
man, but never married. 

The next store w^as occupied by Robert and 
William Hewitt, w^ho were saddlers. Mrs. Adams 
and Matildaj her daughter, kept a millinery-shop 



OLD DAYS IN NASHVILLE. 37 

next door. Miss Matilda married Dr. O' Riley. 
Margaret, her next daughter, married Mr. Crock- 
ett, a dry-goods merchant. Rebecca married 
Robert Gibson, and Jane married his brother, Joe 
Gibson. Jane died, and her husband married her 
sister. 

The next store was owned by an old bachelor 
named Black. The store was afterward pulled 
down to open Union Street. The next store was 
owned by John Elliston, father of Mrs. Green. 
He was a silversmith. Mr. Eastland occupied the 
next house, and kept a billiard-table. Mr. Beno- 
itte kept a barber-shop in the next store. He used 
to make large, flat ginger-cakes with horses on 
them, which he sold for a dime apiece. The last 
house on the west side of the alley was built by 
Duncan Robertson. He kept a bookstore. He had 
three children: Annie, Harriet, and John. Annie 
married Nat Carroll, a brother of WilHam Car- 
roll. Harriet married L. Temple. Duncan Rob- 
ertson was one of the most benevolent and chari- 
table men that ever lived in Nashville. L. Tem- 
ple was a carpenter, and built a brick house on 
Church Street between High and Vine. He had 
one daughter, Agnes, who married Frank Foster, 
Robert Foster's youngest son. 

On the east corner of Market Street and 
the Public Square Mr. Gordon kept a dry-goods 
store. His wife was Miss Bell, sister of Mrs. Mc- 
Nairy. There was only one more house on this 
side as far as Union Street. In this house Dr. 



B8 OLD DAYS IN NASHVILLE. 

Higginbottam had his office and kept a drug-store. 
Next to this there were two vacant lots, and then 
there was a one-story brick house, occupied by 
David Snow. He used the back room as a tin-shop 
and the front as a sales-room. Anthony Johnson, 
his brother-in-law, was his clerk. The next house 
was a dwelling, built by Mr. Black. On the cor- 
ner of the alley was a brick dwelling-house, built 
by Thomas G. Bradford, the first publisher and 
printer in Nashville. On the alley back of his 
house he had his printing-office. Across the alley 
Joseph T. Elliston built two brick houses, which 
were afterward made a part of the St. Charles 
Hotel. 

The dresses the ladies wore in those days would 
look very strange to us now, especially the skirts. 
They were made with three widths of calico. The 
dress-waist was gathered into a belt, and hemmed 
at the top, and held by a drawn string. This was 
held up by shoulder-straps about an inch wide. 
The sleeves were rather small, and came only to 
the elbow, and then were finished off at the elbow 
with a narrow band. The shoes had pointed toes. 
The bonnets were called " scoops," and were 
made in the shape of a coal-scuttle. They were 
made of silk or satin, and tied under the chin with 
ribbon. The ribbon strings were the only trim- 
mings. The hair was worn twisted up behind, 
with a large, square comb stuck in it, and it was 
banged in front. The combs were about three 



OLD DAYS IN NASHVILLE. 39 

inches wide. The ladies wore two or three strings 
of large wax or amber beads around their necks. 
The earrings were large gold '* half-moons," as 
they were called. In winter the favorite wraps 
were red capes, trimmed with white ermine. 



The refreshments at the parties were very dif- 
ferent from what they are now: they were very 
bountiful. There was one table for meat only, 
and another for candy, cakes, fruit, etc. They 
always had sillibub and boiled custard. In the 
center of the table they made a large pyramid of 
jelly and custards, put up in beautiful glasses. 
They always had tea, coffee, and chocolate. 
There was always a large bowl of toddy with 
baked apples in it, called apple-toddy. Every- 
body sat down to the table, and at each plate there 
was a small pie, made in patty-pans. The crust 
was baked in scalloped patty-pans, and filled with 
preserves. We had no sardines then, but used 
chipped beef instead. What was left was given 
to the servants, and the amount given to them was 
much greater and much nicer than is prepared 
now to feed fifty or a hundred people at the par- 
ties. At the dinings they had the greatest abun- 
dance of everything: meats, vegetables, jellies, 
and desserts. Boiled puddings of all kinds, with 
rich sauce, were a favorite dessert. 



John Boyd lived on Market Street, between 
Union and Church. It was a small grocery store, 



40 OLD DAYS tN NASMVILLE* 

and he kept whisky. Mr. Woods used to say that 
he never met but one man who was sharper in 
trade than he was, and that was an Indian, who 
went to him to trade coon-skins. His counter was 
a large bench. The Indian had only four coon- 
skins, and made John Boyd pay him for twelve. 
He did it in this way: Every time Boyd bought a 
skin from the Indian he would just drop it on the 
floor, and when the Indian stooped and pretended 
to pick up another skin he would get the one he 
had alread}' sold him, and sell it over again. John 
Boyd did not find out what he had done until the 
Indian had left. He built a handsome two-story 
brick house on the east side of Market Street. 
He afterward bought a farm out on Church Street 
and moved to it. His house was in the same place 
Mr. Dickerson's home now is. His first wife had 
no children. His second wife was Mrs. Ewing, 
John O. Swing's mother. She had three daugh- 
ters, Mrs. John Williams, Mrs. Robert Smiley, 
who afterward became Mrs. Governor Foote, and 
Mrs. Hal Hayes, who inherited the home. Her 
daughter married Mr. Ford, who now lives on 
West End Avenue. 

On Market Street, nearly opposite Phillips & 
Buttorff's present store, was a two-story brick 
house, with two rooms up stairs and two down. 
It was a double house, and in 1814 Thomas Hill 
lived in one part; in the other the first United 
States Bank was kept. Thomas Somerville was 
the President, Mr. Cregg was the cashier, and 



OLD DAYS IN NASHVILLE. 41 

George Washington was the clerk. The bank 
was afterward built on the north corner of the 
Square. Mr. Somerville had two daughters and 
three sons. His oldest daughter married John 
Young, and his other daughter was an old maid. 
His oldest son, John, ran away and married Miss 
Hewitt, whose sister married WilHam Watkins. 
The other boys moved from here to Alabama. 
Mrs. Young left one child, Miss Lizzie Young, 
who now lives here. 

On the west corner of Deaderick and Cherry 
Streets there was a row of frame houses built by 
the Searcys. Judge Searcy lived on the corner. 
His wife was Miss Wendal, a very beautiful wom- 
an. The next two houses were occupied by young 
men who rented them for offices. Dr. Jack Whar- 
ton, a son of Jesse Wharton, occupied one, and 
Archibald Goodridge, a young lawyer, rented the 
other. He wrote a farce called " The Shavers." 
It was played twenty nights in succession. One 
of the actors, called " Old Grey," used to repre- 
sent Dr. Lawrence, and wore a long gray over- 
coat. The next house was a one-story brick with 
only two rooms, built by Mr. Rawworth, a silver- 
smith. He and his wife, who was Priscilla Brew- 
er, lived in the back room and kept a store in the 
front. Mr. Welsh, a carpenter, who married Miss 
Wharton, lived in the next house, which was a one- 
story frame with two rooms and a shed. 

Josiah Nichol owned a block on Cherry Street, 
between Union and Cedar. He built a large two- 



42 OLD DAYS IN NASHVILLE. 

story house, containing only eight rooms, but it 
was considered large then. He was a dry-goods 
merchant, and kept a store on the south side of 
the Square. His eldest daughter, Margaret, mar- 
ried Robert Armstrong, a brother of William Arm- 
strong. Jane married J. P. W. Brown, and Hen- 
rietta married Dr. Percy. His oldest son, William 
Nichol, married Miss Julia Littel, of Murfeesboro. 
Ben did not marry, and Josiah was killed on the 
Fourth of July by a cannon used in the celebra- 
tion. James's first wife was Miss McCullough, of 
Murfeesboro. Josiah Nichol's brother, John Nich- 
ol, married Rachel Bosley. She had four chil- 
dren and died, and he afterward married Miss 
Harriet Mauford, of Boston, whose sister married 
Locke Weakley, the only son of Col. Weakley. 
His third wife was Miss Bradford, who had three 
children. Her second daughter married Mr. 
Hightower. Her son, Bradford Nichol, keeps a 
wholesale furniture-store in Nashville now. 



In 1812 Mr. Eastin began to publish a paper. 
He only kept it a little while and then sold it out 
to Moses and Joseph Norvil, two young men from 
Kentucky. 

In 1819 the First Presbyterian Church in Nash- 
ville was built on the corner of Summer and 
Church Streets. Randall McGavock, of Frank- 
lin, gave the lot to build it on, with the condition 
that if they ever built anything on it but a church 



OLD DAYS IN NASHVILLE. 43 

it would go back to his family. Judge John Over- 
ton gave the lot to build the Masonic Hall on, upon 
the same condition. 

Joseph and Robert Woods were commission 
merchants. They had a warehouse on College 
Street. Joseph Woods's residence was on Market 
Street, just opposite the St. Charles Hotel. He 
married Miss Jane West, of Lexington, Ky. He 
had no children. Robert Woods married Miss 
Sallie West, a sister of his brother's wife. They 
had six children. Josephine married John Branch, 
a son of Gov. Branch, of North Carolina. James 
married Bessie Campbell. Jane, his next daugh- 
ter, married a hardware merchant, Mr. Handy, in 
Philadelphia. Robert married Miss Cheatham, 
and Joe married Miss Foster. His youngest 
daughter, Julia, married Dr. Robert Foster. Jane 
married Mr. Armstead. 



Samuel V. D. Stout, sometimes called " Samuel 
Vexation Damnation Stout," was a carriage-maker. 
His wife was Miss Tannyhill. He lived on the 
east side of Water or Front Street. Next to him 
was a two-story frame house which was rented to 
tenants. Theodoric Yeatman lived there for some 
time, and after he left it was rented to Mr. Brad- 
ford, brother of Thomas G. Bradford, the first 
editor in Nashville. He married Miss Lucy Mar- 
tin, a sister of Barkley Martin, of Shelby ville. 
Just opposite this house, on the other side of the 



44 OLD DAYS IN NASHVILLE. 

river, was a ball alley, where the young men used 
to go to play ball for exercise. One evening I 
was sitting on the back porch, and saw J. P. El- 
liston's sons and some other children playing over 
there. The bo3^s decided to go in bathing, and 
Robert Elliston was drowned. The river was 
searched, but his body could not be found until 
the next evening. 

Old Mr. Cruff, who had a vineyard just across 
the river, was the watchman of the town. After 
nine o'clock at night he used to walk up and down 
the streets and cry out the hours. If it was a 
rainy night, he would say: "Past eleven o'clock, 
a t'undering and a lightning, and a tam rainy 
night." 

On the south side of Cedar Street, on Capitol 
Hill, a lawyer named Andrew Hayes lived in a 
small one-story brick house containing only two 
rooms. He had a daughter, Annie Hayes, who 
was very beautiful, talented, and smart. She 
read law with her father. Mrs. Ephraim Foster, 
and all the other wealthy ladies, took great inter- 
est in her. Forrest and Parsons, two very hand- 
some 3^oung men, were studying for the stage. 
Forrest used to wear a large white collar turned 
down over his coat and tied with a black ribbon. 
Miss Hayes fell in love with him. Mrs. Foster 
gave a large part}' to Miss Hayes, and invited For- 
rest, although it was not customary to invite actors 



OLD DAYS IN NASHVILLE. 45 

to private houses in those days. Forrest wrote an 
excuse to Mrs. Foster, saying that he had no time 
to spend in society, and that he wished to devote 
himself to his profession and become a noted act- 
or, which he succeeded in doing. 



Where the Maxwell House now stands Mc- 
Combs & Robertson had a cabinet-making shop. 
Mr. Egbaum came to Nashville a saddler, but after- 
ward sold out and kept a bookstore. He lived on 
the west corner of Vine and Cedar Streets, where 
he built the first brick house on Vine Street. He 
built the next two houses to rent. Maj. Kelly and 
Mr. Ely now own them. Mr. McCombs, the cab- 
inet-maker, built the house where Dr. Briggs now 
lives. Where Mrs. James Manier now lives, Rob- 
ert Imo then lived. The next house was built by 
George Yearger, afterward sold to Judge Brown, 
who married Miss Eliza Hightower. She died, 
and he married Miss Louise Gibbs, a very beau- 
tiful young lady. Her father was a lawyer, and 
built a brick house on Church Street opposite the 
Nicholson House. 



LETTER VI, 

Prominent People — First Water/' Works. 



WO springs, one at the end of Church 
Street, the other under the bluff where the 
Methodist PubHshing House now stands, 
supplied the first inhabitants of Nashville with wa- 
ter. The water was carried in wooden buckets and 
pails to their homes by the servants. The first water- 
works were at the end of Church Street, and the 
machinery which conveyed the water was a mill 
which ground meal and sawed timber. The res- 
ervoir was next to the Masonic Hall. Before the 
water-works were built, if a house caught fire, 
they put it out in this way: Every man had a leath- 
er bucket which held about two gallons, and with 
his name on it. It was always hung up near the 
front door. The men formed a line from where 
the fire was down to the river, and buckets of 
water were handed from one to the next. 



On South Cherry Street the first residences were 
built by J. P. Irvin, Dr. Roane, son of Gov. Roane, 
Dr. Wells, Sam Marshall, and Sam Seay. John 
P. Irvin's was a one-story brick house, and Sam 
Marshall's was a two-story brick, and is still 
standing. Dr. Roane's is a two-story frame house. 



OLD DAYS IN NASHVILLE. 47 

The house in which Mr. Jungermann now hves 
was built by Sam Seay, who came here a very 
young man. He fell in love with Agnes Woods. 
He became a very prominent citizen and a fine 
business man, and reared a family of very distin- 
guished children. 

Mrs. Irby taught the first free school for 
children ever in Nashville. Her daughter Fan- 
ny married George Morgan, the father of the 
late Irby Morgan and John Morgan, the United 
States Senator from Alabama. Her youngest 
daughter, Nancy Irby, married Dr. Roane. He 
died, and she moved to Texas with her daughter, 
who had married Thomas Masterson. After she 
moved Mr. Wessel lived in her house on South 
Cherry Street. 

Buchanan, a dry-goods merchant, and Porter- 
field, a commission merchant, built two large 
brick houses on Market Street, between the 
Square and Lick Branch. Buchanan married a 
beautiful girl, Miss Turley, a sister of Judge Tur- 
ley and a niece of Mrs. Weatherall. Mr. Porter- 
field was father of Robert and John Porterfield. 
Robert married Miss Eliza Shepard, and John 
married Miss Figures, of Franklin. 



A man named Decker came to Nashville and 
opened a confectioner3'-shop. He built a resi- 
dence on Cedar Street. His daughter married 



48 OLD DAYS IN NASHVILLE. 

Mr. Dyer. Decker bought two or three acres of 
land in South Nashville, and built a large one-story 
frame house and ball-room. He had a large gar- 
den planted with flow^ers and shrubs. All the balls, 
concerts and entertainments were given at " Vaux- 
hall," as his place was called. He had a railroad 
built around the place, where the people used to 
ride for amusement. It was a great place of re- 
sort, such as Glendale Park was during the summer 
of 1895. 

Mr. George Shawl was a very prominent man 
here. His wife was a Miss Haines, of Knoxville. 
He was a dry-goods merchant, and kept a store on 
the Square. He lived on High Street, in the house 
Mrs. Huff now lives in. The house was built by 
O. B. Hayes. He afterward built a large brick 
house on College Street. He moved from here to 
New Orleans, and Mr. Hudnall, from Mississippi, 
bought his house. The first school of the Sisters 
of Charity was kept in this house. 

George and Robert Yerger, nephews of George 
Shawl, were two 3^oung lawyers from East Ten- 
nessee. George built a home on the corner of 
Summer and Cedar Streets, and he also built the 
house on Vine Street where Mr. Throne now 
lives. He rented this house, and it was occupied 
by Gen. Gaines, a United States officer, whose 
w^ife was Gov. Blount's daughter. It was next 
rented by Judge Brown. His first wife was Eliza- 
beth Hightower, and his second wife was a beauti- 



OLD DAYS IN NASHVILLE. 49 

ful young lady, Miss Louisa Gibbs, a daughter of 
Lawyer Gibbs. Judge Brown died, and she mar- 
ried Dixon Allen, a prominent young lawyer and 
brother of Joe Allen, who lives now on Spruce 
Street. 

Richmond and Flint, two young men from Bos- 
ton, came to Nashville as silversmiths. Mr. Flint 
married a young lady in Boston, who had one 
daughter. He died, and his wife married Dr. 
John Waters, the brother-in-law of Dr. Felix Rob- 
ertson, the first white man born in Nashville. 
Mr. Flint's daughter married Mr. Bankhead, a 
commission merchant. They had five daughters. 
Mr. Bankhead owned a large farm in Arkansas. 
His eldest daughter married a prominent physi- 
cian in St. Louis. Then they moved to New York. 
Dr. Waters' first wife died, and he married Miss 
Annie Rollings. He lived in a brick house on the 
west side of College Street, near Mr. Warren's 
furniture store. They raised only one son, John 
Waters. After Dr. Waters' death his wife mar- 
ried Col. Beverly Williams, an officer in the Fed- 
eral army. They now live in Little Rock, Ark. 



Judge Trimble's family came to Nashville in 
the early settlement. His wife was Miss Clark, 
a sister of James P. Clark. Judge Trimble built 
a two-story brick house on Summer Street, which 
is still standing. His oldest son, John, married 
Miss Margaret McEwin. His daughter Susan 
4 



50 OLD DAYS IN NASHVILLE. 

married William Washington, a brother of Thomas, 
James, and Gilbert Washington. After the death 
of her first husband she married Dr. Ramse}^ of 
Knoxville. Her daughter married Mr. Mclver, of 
East Nashville. One of Judge Trimble's daugh- 
ters married Mr. Lindsley, whose father was a 
President of the Nashville College, and one of the 
most prominent men in learning and education 
ever in Nashville. Mr. McEwin, the father of 
John Trimble's wife, lived on Spruce Street. His 
wife was Miss Hettie Kennedy, who was consid- 
ered one of the most benevolent, useful, and prac- 
tical women in Nashville. Her second daughter, 
Caroline, married Judge Jones, of Arkansas; her 
next daughter, Anna, married Mr. Wilkins. 



Between 1820 and 1830 there was a very romantic 
wedding in Nashville. Thomas and John Price, salt 
and commission merchants, owned a warehouse 
on the river-bank at the mouth of Broad Street. 
John's wife was Miss Rucker, of Murfreesboro. 
Tom married a beautiful woman. Miss Robertson, 
from Kentucky. They went to housekeeping on 
High Street where Mr. Pilcher now lives. Soon 
after they gave a party. One of the most promi- 
nent men in Nashville had a very beautiful daugh- 
ter about fifteen years old. A young man from 
Louisiana came here with Charlie Dickerson to 
go to school, and fell very much in love with this 
young lady. (I boarded in the house with the 
young man.) The young lady went to the Nash- 



OLD DAYS IN NASHVILLE. 51 

ville Academy, and she used to meet the young 
man nearly every day on her way from school. 
She was invited to the party given by Mrs. 
Thomas Price, and she wrote a note to the young 
man and told him to come to the party prepared 
to run away and marry her, as her father was go- 
ing to send her away to school the next day to 
stay two years. She was dressed in a pink silk 
dress, with low neck and short sleeves, and had 
on satin slippers. There were four inches of snow 
on the ground. The young man procured two 
horses. In those days the men wore woolen cloaks 
and large plaids, which were lined with a very 
thick woolen cloth. They had very large capes. 
He got one of the cloaks. The young lady left 
the party and met him at the corner of the street. 
She put on this large cloak, tied his handkerchief 
on her head, and got on one of the horses behind 
him, and a friend of his accompanied them on the 
other horse. They rode all night, and stopped at 
a tavern just this side of Frankhn, and he bought 
her a sunbonnet. They rode all day, and the next 
night about nine o'clock they reached Winchester. 
They went to the clerk's office and were married. 
The next day they reached Huntsville, Ala., and 
went to a hotel. Mrs. Coleman, who was well 
acquainted with the young lady's family, wrote to 
her mother to send her trunk and clothes. They 
remained in Huntsville until she received them, 
and then went on to Louisiana to his father's 
home. His father was a very wealthy planter. 



52 OLD DAYS IN NASHVILLE. 

They raised one of the most prominent families in 
Louisiana. Three of her daughters married gen- 
tlemen from Tennessee, all of whom were very 
prominent men. After death she was brought 
back to Nashville and buried at Mount Olivet 
last winter, and was the last one of her father's 
children. 

Whenever any news was brought to town that 
was important or startling, a man or boy would 
ride on horseback, with a long tin horn. He 
would ride in a gallop through town to the post- 
office, blowing his horn as loud as possible. When 
he reached the post-office he would proclaim the 
news. 

When the people heard the result of the battle 
of New Orleans they illuminated every house in 
town. They illuminated by putting candles in all 
the windows in the front of the house. There 
was a candle at every pane of glass, and they were 
arranged in different ways, sometimes in the shape 
of diamonds, and sometimes in circles. 



Gen. Harding's first wife was Selene McNair}^, 
the daughter of Mat McNairy, whose wife was 
Kitty Hobson. Charlie Cooper was clerk in the 
bank on College Street, which was where the 
Commercial National Bank now is. His wife was 
Maria Eastland, a cousin of Selene McNairy. 
Charlie Cooper gave a party over the bank. 



OLD DAYS IN NASHVILLE. 53 

There were two beautiful young widows here 
then, Mrs. Hoggett and Mrs. Camp. They were 
two of the most beautiful women ever in Nashville. 
Mrs. Hoggett was Miss Amanda Walker, from 
Virginia, and Mrs. Camp was Miss Webster. 
Mrs. Camp was married three times. Her first 
husband was Mr. Tate, her second Mr. Camp, 
and her last husband was Col. Andrew Irvin, 
brother of Mrs. Thomas Yeatman. Both of these 
widows attended the party given by Charlie Coop- 
er. Mrs. Camp was dressed in black velvet, with 
low neck and short sleeves, and had a long white 
ostrich feather in her hair. Mrs. Hoggett had on 
a crimson velvet, with a crimson rose in her hair. 
She afterward married a United States officer. Dr. 
Wharton. 



In 1834 ^^^ ladies all wore their dresses made 
with high necks, with ruffles around the neck, and 
mutton-leg sleeves. Under the outside sleeves 
they wore short sleeves stuffed with feathers, to 
make them stand out. The belts were embroi- 
dered satin ribbons of different colors, and they 
wore large buckles in front. The buckles were 
very handsome: some were made of gold, some 
had jewels in them, and some had landscapes 
painted on them. I have one of them now, the 
front of which is green glass, with a beautiful 
landscape painted on it, and the belt in white sat- 
in, embroidered with roses and other flowers. 



54 OLD DAYS IN NASHVILLE. 

They wore large capes made of white India mus- 
Un, and embroidered very elaborately. They 
were very expensive, some of them costing one 
hundred dollars. 



The first bridge built over the river was just 
back of where the Methodist Publishing House 
now stands. It was built by McChesney & 
Stacker. It was covered over and weather- 
boarded like a house, and had windows on both 
sides. 



The first rolling-mill in Nashville was on the hill 
near the Blind Asylum. It was owned by Woods, 
Dick & Stacker. The people used to go up and 
watch them make bars of iron out of the bloom. 
I went up there one day and watched Daniel and 
Charlie Hillman make them. It was astonishing 
to see how rapidly they did work. 



In 1822 Miss Lavinia King, a cousin of Robert 
and Joseph Woods and Mattie Strong, came to 
Nashville to spend the winter. The Legislature 
was in session, and a young lawyer named Ready, 
from Murfreesboro, was a legislator. He fell in 
love w^ith and married Miss Mattie Strong. They 
lived in Murfreesboro. His eldest daughter was 
Dr. William Cheatham's first wife. She was a 



OT.D DAYS IN NASHVILLE. 55 

beautiful, refined, elegant woman. When they 
were first married they lived on the north cor- 
ner of Summer and Cedar Streets, in a two-story 
brick house built by George Yearger. Mrs, 
Cheatham had two children, a son and a daugh- 
ter. Her daughter married Mr. Tom Weaver, 
and her son married Miss Berry, a sister of Mrs. 
John M. Bass. 



LETTER VII, 

The Grundy^ Anderson Senatorial Race — Lafayette's Vis^ 
it and the Attendant Festivities. 




HEN Judge Grundy was elected United 
States Senator his opponent was a man 
named Anderson, a lawyer, formerly of 
East Tennessee. The legislators from East Ten- 
nessee were in favor of Anderson, except Gen. 
Cocke, who was a high-toned, elegant gentleman. 
The East Tennesseeans were Tiptons, McFar- 
lands, Francis Miller, and Alexander Bradford, 
and were all for Anderson. I boarded in the house 
with all these gentlemen. Gen. Cocke took a 
fancy to me, and on one occasion said, *' Miss 
Jane, we must elect Judge Grundy; " and by the 
time of the election we had persuaded all of them 
to vote for Judge Grund}^, and he was elected. 

When Gen. Cocke went home he made a bet 
with me that if I was not married to a certain 
young Methodist preacher here when he came 
back he would give me the finest head-dress that 
could be bought in Nashville. He had a grand- 
son living in Nashville who married the grand- 
daughter of the preacher, and he says he is going 
to give me a handsome head-dress to pay his 
grandfather's debt. 



OLD DAYS IN NASHVILLE. 57 

Mrs. Jacob McGavock, Judge Grundy's daugh- 
ter, and her husband gave the legislators a party 
after her father was elected Senator. The' supper 
excelled anything I have ever seen in Nashville. 
The house had double parlors down-stairs, and the 
rooms just above the parlor also had folding doors 
between them. They went to New Orleans and 
got a French confectioner to prepare the supper. 
The table was set up-stairs in the room over the 
parlor. The folding doors were open, and the 
table extended from one room to the other. At 
each end the table was set in the shape of a cross, 
and where the table went through the folding 
doors there was a large pyramid, which was at 
least three feet high, made of beautiful jelly put in 
glasses. Dispersed all over the tables were vases 
of beautiful artificial flowers, with glass globes 
over each vase. The candlesticks were of sil- 
ver, and each one held three beautiful wax can- 
dles. Long leaves were cut out of tissue-paper, 
dipped in spermaceti, and covered with isinglass, 
which made them look like crystallized candy. 
These w^ere put around each candle, and hung 
down over the candlestick. On the tables w^ere 
all kinds of large and small cakes, confectionery, 
and fruits. They had dancing down-stairs. 

A widower, Col. Gray Garrett, was a member 
of the Legislature. One of the young ladies was 
very much in love with him. There was a young 
lady playing on the piano at Mrs. McGavock's 
party, and he was standing near her turning the 



58 OLD DAYS IN NASHVILLE. 

music for her. The 3'oung lady who was in love, 
and who lisped very badly, went up to him and 
said: "Please, sir, can you tell me which is Col. 
Gray Garrett? I am very much in love with him." 
He replied: "I am the gentleman." 



In 1825 Lafayette came to Nashville. He came 
up in a boat. It w^ent up the river, turned around, 
and landed at the mouth of Broad Street. _ When 
he landed cannons were fired. He was met at the 
river by a large crowd of people, and his body- 
guard w^as a beautiful company of cavalry which 
conducted him through the streets. He w^as taken 
from the boat to an open carriage drawn by six 
white horses. Lafayette and Gen. Jackson sat 
on the back seat, and his son, George Wash- 
ington Lafayette, and his aid-de-camp, Barnard, 
sat on the front seat. All the houses were gaily 
decorated. The party came up Market Street, 
around the Square, and down College, passing 
under a beautiful arch at the corner of College 
and the Square. 

Robert B. Currey was Mayor and postmaster at 
this time, and lived on College Street, between 
Union and Church, where Mrs. Early used to 
keep a millinery-store. He entertained Lafayette 
during his visit here. 

The night of Lafayette's arrival a large ball 
and supper were given him at the Masonic Hall. 
There was a platform where he stood, and he 
shook hands with everybody. He kissed all the 



OLD DAYS IN NASHVILLE. 59 

young ladies who shook hands with him. He was 
invited to the Nashville Academy. There was a 
platform made in front of the building, and Miss 
Malvina Grundy delivered the welcome address. 
He was also entertained by Ephraim Foster in the 
house in South Nashville now used, as a Catholic 
convent. Gen. Jackson, too, entertained him at 
the "Hermitage." At night the entire town was 
illuminated. Mrs. Littlefield, a daughter of Gen. 
G.reene, knew Gen. Lafayette when he was at 
their house, where he was brought when he was 
wounded during the revolutionary war. She was 
living here in Nashville when Lafayette came. 



Dr. Lawrence came to Nashville and built a 
house on the corner of Broad and Walnut Streets. 
He lived in the house where George Whitworth 
used to live. He had a large family of beautiful 
girls. Mr. Abednego Stephenson married one of 
his daughters. Mr. Stephenson was a young 
Episcopalian^ minister and a professor in our col- 
lege. He and Dr. A. Litton were the youngest 
professors ever in our college. Mr. Stephenson 
died of consumption soon after he was married, 
and his brother-in-law died the same day. They 
were buried from the First Presbyterian Church. 
Dr. John Lawrence married Miss Rachel Jackson, 
the daughter of Gen. Andrew Jackson's adopted 
son. They owned and lived on a farm near the 
" Hermitage." William Lawrence, another broth- 
er, married Miss Corinne Hayes, a very beautiful 



60 OLD DAYS IN NASHVILLE. 

woman, and is still living on the Granny White 
pike beyond Belmont College. All of Dr. Law- 
rence's daughters died young. 

Dr. "Redhead" Martin, as he was always 
called, came to Nashville about 1830 and bought 
a lot on the corner of Summer and Church Streets. 
His lot extended from the corner to where Thomp- 
son & Kelly's store now is. His first wife had no 
children. After her death he married a daughter 
of Dr. Dickerson. He added to his residence a 
wing out to Church Street, and the house was kept 
as a boarding-house by Mrs. Edmunson. She 
first kept a private boarding-house, but it was aft- 
erward turned into a hotel and called the St. 
Cloud. Dr. Martin left here and went to Knox- 
ville. He had two daughters and one son. His 
grandchildren are still living in Knoxville. 



LETTER VIII, 

Recollections of Jenny Lind — Nashville's First Earth-^ 
quake* 

HE first house in Nashville in w^hich gas 
v^as used vs^as Mr. John M. Bass's. He 
lived in the house which belonged to Col. 



Cole, and is now occupied by Drs. Savage and 
Price. The gas was put in when Mr. Bass's old- 
est daughter, Margaret, married Dr. Tom Hard- 
ing. Dr. Harding has two daughters living. One 
of them married a doctor from Mississippi, and 
the other married Mr. Champion, the lawyer, who 
now lives on Spruce Street. 



In 1819 the fashionable material for dressing for 
evening wear was Canton crape. It could be 
bought in all colors: pink, blue, white, etc. It 
was woven like Canton crape shawls. The dresses 
were made with tight sleeves and high necks, with 
two or three rows of quilled ribbon about an inch 
wide around the skirt, sometimes being put on in 
straight rows, and sometimes festooned. The 
dresses had wide ruffles of very handsome India 
mull, scalloped at the edge and embroidered in 
beautiful designs, which were worn around the 
neck. These ruffles were about a quarter of a 



62 OLD DAYS IN NASHVILLE. 

yard wide, and were worked on each edge and 
quilted in the center. Two of them were gener- 
ally put on the neck of the dress, and had the ap- 
pearance of four ruffles. Velvet hats were worn. 
The brims were three or four inches wide, and 
the crowns of about medium height. They were 
trimmed with large ostrich tips, and often had 
four or five large ones on each hat. In the sum- 
mer the girls wore Leghorn hats, with very wide 
brims. They were very expensive, sometimes 
the hat alone costing fifty dollars. I had one 
which cost twenty dollars and was trimmed with 
lilac ribbon and white and lilac flowers. The 
brim was turned up in a fold behind so that they 
would not hang down on the neck. In winter 
capes made of velvet or cloth were worn. 



Jenny Lind came to Nashville about 185 1 or 
1852. She sang at the theater, and the best seats 
costs from ten to twelve dollars, and those in the 
pit from three to four dollars. I went to hear her 
with W. P. Harding, a brother of Dr. Thomas G. 
Harding. Jenny Lind was small and slender. 
The night I heard her sing she was dressed in 
pink silk made very simple. She sang '' The Last 
Rose of Summer " and one or two other old songs. 
*' The Echo Song" was especially beautiful, and 
when she was singing it her throat would swell 
out like a bird, and you could hear the notes die 
out in the distance just an exact imitation of an 
echo. 



OLD DAYS IN NASHVILLE. 63 

In 1827 and 1828 it was the "fad" in society 
circles to make conundrums. They gave pre- 
miums to those who made the best ones. The 
premiums were silver cups. Randal McGavock, 
son of Mr. Jacob McGavock, got the first pre- 
mium. His conundrum was: "Why is a poor 
horse like France?" " He has bony parts (Bona- 
parte) in him." Miss Jennie Trabue got the sec- 
ond premium. Her conundrum was: "Why is 
Nashville like a sick kitten?" " She has Paines 
and Aikens in her." 

When the First Presbyterian Church was built, 
in 1820, they built in the yard an office, which was 
used as the pastor's study and as a place for the 
ladies of the church to hold their benevolent so- 
ciety meetings ever}^ Wednesday evening. The 
society had their work laid off in wards. There 
were members from all the different Churches — 
Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian, etc. The prom- 
inent members were: Mrs. Grundy, Mrs. George 
W. Gibbs, Mrs. Annie Carroll, Mrs. Stephen 
Cantrell, Mrs. Joseph Litton, Mrs. Margaret 
Crockett, Mrs. Robert Smiley, Mrs. Judge White, 
and Mrs. McCombs. Each lady had certain 
wards to attend to, and went around each week to 
see who was sick, hungry, or suffering, and sup- 
plied them wdth comforts. I have never known 
such a band of benevolent Christian women in 
Nashville since that time. Those I mentioned 
were only some of the prominent members. 
Among others were Mrs. Jane Gibson, one of the 



64 OLD DAYS IN NASHVILLE. 

loveliest women I ever knew; Mrs. Temple, and 
Mrs. Joseph Woods. 

In 1811 there was an earthquake here, the first 
that ever happened in Nashville. It occurred 
about three o'clock one Monday morning. It 
was very severe, and ever^^thing in the houses 
rattled. My mother was always very much fright- 
ened at a storm, and when she heard the roaring 
w^hich preceded the earthquake she jumped up 
and opened the door, and by that time the earth 
began to shake. These shakings happened at in- 
tervals for about a year, and were often very se- 
vere. They were worse in West Tennessee than 
here, and by the sinking of the earth Reel Foot 
Lake was formed. 



LETTER IX, 

Clay and Polk in 1846 — Harrison — Odd Characters- 
First Dentists — Religious Revival 




HEN Clay and Polk ran for the Presi- 
dency in 1846 if was the most exciting 
election ever held in Tennessee. Clay 
was the Whig and Polk the Democratic candi- 
date. They organized all sorts of companies, 
such as the " Clay Slashers," the " Coon Hunt- 
ers," etc. The Clay Slashers were composed of 
cavalry dressed in white pantaloons and gay plaid 
hunting-shirts. They wore caps with w^hite plumes 
striped with red in them, and a blue silk sash. 
They had badges made with white ribbon with 
Clay's picture printed on them, and fastened to 
the sash with a white rosette. There was a long 
frame put on wheels, and a log cabin built on it, 
with a door with the latch and string put on the 
outside. Inside the cabin there was a barrel of 
cider which they sold as they marched through 
the streets, singing and blowing a long tin horn: 
" Git out the way, you Polk-stalk pizen ; you can't 
beat Clay and Frelinghuysen." 

They had a big convention, and Clay stayed at 
Dr. McNairy's, who lived on Summer Street be- 
tween Union and Church, Clay and J. J, Crit= 
5 



66 OLD DAYS IN NASHVILLE. 

tenden, George Prentice, of Louisville, and Sar- 
gent S. Prentiss, of New Orleans, were here 
then. The convention was held on McGavock's 
farm, in a grove of walnut-trees. They had a 
large stand for the speakers and seats for the 
audience. In another part of the grounds there 
were tables a hundred feet long, where barbacue 
and other things w^ere served free. The distin- 
guished speakers were Clay, Crittenden, Breck- 
inridge; George Prentice, of Louisville; S. S. 
Prentiss, of Louisiana; Tom Marshall, Haney, 
Bingham, Pike, Cummins. The procession going 
out to the grove was nearly a mile long. Sar- 
gent S. Prentiss, of New Orleans, did not get there 
in time to speak at the grove, but spoke at night 
on the Square, just opposite Lebeck's store. The 
whole Square was tilled with people. I went and 
heard him. All the Whigs of the town opened 
their houses and entertained these men. Sam 
Morgan's and Dr. McNair3^'s houses were head- 
quarters for distinguished visitors. 



Sam Morgan came from Huntsville, Ala., 
among the early settlers. He was always an en- 
terprising business man, and one of the first men 
to start the cotton-factor}-. When the Capitol 
was built he superintended everything. He de- 
signed the chandeliers and selected the- statuary, 
He was a wholesale dry-goods merchant, and prom-s 
inent in everything which would promote the in^ 
terest of the town, His residence was on Summer 



OLD DAYS IN NASHVILLE. (>7 

Street, next to Thompson & Kelly's store. He 
entertained all the distinguished people who came 
to the town. He and John M. Bass have enter- 
tained more than anybody who ever lived here. 
Sam Morgan's wife was Miss Matilda Mcintosh, 
a daughter of Dr. Mcintosh, of Virginia, who 
came originally from Scotland. He had a large 
family of children. His oldest daughter, Sarah, 
married Mr. Cheney. Henrietta married Ben 
Clark, a son of J. P. Clark. His next daughter, 
Amanda, one of the most beautiful and attractive 
women that ever lived in Nashville, married William 
Sherrod, of Alabama, whose father was a very 
prominent railroad man. Matilda Morgan mar- 
ried Dr. Robert Williams, a son of Willoughby 
Williams. His next daughter married Dr. Dun- 
can, a nephew of Mrs. Paul F. Eve. His eldest 
son married a young lady from Memphis. His 
second died w^hen he was just twenty-one years 
old, never having married. His youngest son, 
Sam, never married, but was killed during the 
war in the Confederate army. His youngest 
daughter died unmarried. 



In 1840, when Harrison was running for Presi- 
dent, C. E. Harris, whose wife was a sister of A. 
P. Maury, of Franklin, Mr. Bradley and myself 
came from Little Rock to Nashville, and passed 
Harrison's home, on the Mississippi River. When 
he reached Nashville the excitement was at its 
height. At this time Gen. Armstrong was post- 



68 OLD DAYS IN NASHVILLE. 

master. Jeremiah George Harris was editor of 
the Democratic paper, and Robert Foster was a 
Whig. He and Harris had some trouble, and 
Foster shot but did not kill Harris. Every even- 
ing when J. G. Harris came after the mail, his 
first inquiry would be : "Watchman, what of the 
night?" He married Miss McGavock, daughter 
of Mr. James McGavock. He had two daugh- 
ters, and died of consumption. His daughters 
grew up to be very pretty, attractive young la- 
dies. One of them married Dr. Lindsley, a prom- 
inent young physician, and lived in the house 
where Baxter Smith lives on Spruce Street. The 
other married Mr. Bryant, and lived near East 
Nashville, on a farm. Their father, J. G. Harris, 
left here and went to Washington City, and was a 
very prominent man there. His daughter, Mrs. 
Lindsley, and her husband went with him. 



Mr. Ferriss came to Nashville in early settle- 
ments. He was a confectioner, and came origi- 
nall}' from France. His wife was Miss Taylor, a 
most intelligent and lovely young w^oman. He 
had three very pretty daughters, and one who was 
especially beautiful. The}^ were Amelia, Har- 
riet, and Ann. Amelia married Joe Vanleer, son 
of Bernard Vanleer. Harriet married a young 
man from Louisville. His son, John Ferriss, is 
still living here. Joe Vanleer's father was a 
very prominent man here. He had two children, 
a sop and a daughter. His daughter married Mr, 



OLD DAYS IN NASHVILLE. 69 

Lanier, and his son married Miss Ferriss. Bar- 
nard Vanleer's brother, Anthony, Hved on College 
Street. He had three children. His oldest daugh- 
ter, Leonora, married Hugh Kirkman. She 
built the house on the corner of Summer and Ce- 
dar Streets, which is now used for a Conservatory 
of Music. She had three children, and died of 
consumption. His other daughter married John 
Polk, Bishop Polk's youngest brother. His son 
died unmarried. 

Mr. Gowdy came to Nashville, and owned a 
jewelry-store and restaurant on the Square, in the 
house now owned by Mr. Archie Cheatham. He 
was an energetic and prominent citizen. He had 
a family of very beautiful and intelligent children. 
He lived on what is now Gowdy Street. His eld- 
est daughter married Mr. McCampbell, a nephew 
of J. P. Clark, and now lives on a farm on the Leb- 
anon road. His next dau^jhter married Mr. 
Cocke, and the youngest married Mr. Stretch. 
They were all intelligent, good men, and made 
good citizens, and their wives were good women. 



There was a very amusing and eccentric old 
man named Tom Pearce. He was a beggar. He 
used to play a fiddle, and about dinner-time he 
would go to the different houses playing the fid- 
dle, and ask if you had any chairs to bottom, and 
beg his dinner. He said he slept in the market- 
house in the summer. Just across the river Dr. 



70 OLD DAYS IN NASHVILLE. 

Shelby had a sawmill, and Tom Pearce said he 
slept here in the winter with the hogs to keep warm. 



In the olden times all the gentlemen wore ruf- 
fled shirts. Mrs. Woods lived on High Street, in 
the house Mrs. Fogg now owns, and Mrs. Shawl 
lived just opposite Gen. Thruston's. They could 
make a shirt and rufl^e it in one day. In those 
days nearly every lady made her own and her 
children's clothes and her husband's shirts. Mrs. 
Shawl was one of the most benevolent women in 
Nashville, and was always interested in the poor. 
Her husband was very wealthy. They moved to 
New Orleans, and when she was quite an old lady 
she came back here on a visit. I was keeping 
house in my little cottage, and Mrs. Clark brought 
her out to see me. She said to me: "O Miss 
Jane, I came out to congratulate you, and to tell 
you I was so glad to find one woman in Nashville 
who had independence and sense enough to take 
care of herself without the help of a man." 



A woman once came to Nashville who had no 
arms, and was no larger than a three-year-old 
child. She wrote and cut out profiles with her 
toes. She was intelligent, and could read very 
well. Then there was another set of show-people 
who had a woman with them who had a beard, 
and another woman over six feet tall, called the 
*' giraffe." There was another little woman about 
three feet high. She said that when she was on 



OLD DAYS IN NASHVILLE. 71 

the vessel coming over to this country they used 
to tell her that the devil was a black man. One 
day she said she saw a negro coming up out of the 
ship, and thought it was the devil. It frightened 
her so much that she never grew any more. 
She was married, and had three children. 



The first dentist that ever came to Nashville was 
Dr. Harris, a Methodist preacher from Baltimore. 
He used to come twice a year only, in the spring 
and fall. He would get all the dentist's work in 
the town, and then go into the surrounding coun- 
try. He was a fine man and a splendid preacher. 
The next dentist was Dr. Badger, from New Or- 
leans. He spent his winters in New Orleans and 
summers in Nashville, and lived on Summer 
Street, between Broad and Church. He married 
Miss Perkins, a very beautiful young lady. The 
next dentist was Dr. Gunn, who stayed here 
all the 3^ear round. He was the first dentist that 
ever lived in Nashville all the year. 



There was a colored woman here named Sarah 
Estell, who kept an ice-cream saloon in a small 
log house next to McKendree Church. Mr. Maflfitt 
came here and had a big revival in McKendree 
Church in 1833. The church had not been com- 
pleted, but temporar}^ seats were put in for the oc- 
casion. Harry Hill was a prominent man in the 
Methodist Church. He had one son, Jimmie 
Dick Hill. He lived on Broad Street, on the lot 



72 OLD DAYS IN NASHVILLE. 

on which the custom-house now stands. His son 
was about ten years old, and had a little bench in 
the church. He had joined the Church, and used 
to go and get other little boys to come up and 
kneel at the bench to be prayed for. Between 
the song and the prayer he would take the boys to 
Sarah Estell's and treat them to ice-cream, and 
then take them back to church and go to singing 
and praying again. Mr. Maffitt had services 
there everv day and every night for three months. 
I was there one morning at ten o'clock to attend 
prayer-meeting. I never used to go up very close 
to the altar, where the excitement was, and Mr. 
Maffitt came up to me, shrugged his shoulders, 
and asked what I was doing in the cold, and 
wanted to know why I did not come up to the lire. 
I said to him: *' You have plenty of shavings up 
there to keep up the light. I am sitting out here, 
an old log, to keep up the fire, so that when your 
shavings go out you can come and get fire to light 
them again." He never came after me again to 
go up to the altar. I have never seen such con- 
tinued interest in a revival since I have been in the 
Church. 

Compare the Legislature of the present time with 
the Legislature of the past. Men of the best talent 
and standing in the state used to make our laws. 
Look at the men we used to choose as our repre- 
sentatives and governors, such men as Cocke, 
Dunlap, Tipton, Bradford, Miller, Frances, Mar- 



OLD DAYS IN NASHVILLE. 73 

tin, Wharton, Foster, and Huntsman. Here I 
must tell an amusing thing about Adam Hunts- 
man; He boarded in the house where 1 boarded. 
He had a small room to himself. The colored 
boy that waited on the gentlemen went up with 
him to the room to get his boots. He came run- 
ning back, frightened nearly to death, and said he 
could not stay in the room where that man was, 
because he took all the hair off his head and laid 
it on the table, and took his teeth out, and then 
took off one of his legs. "Law! Miss Sallie," he 
said, " 1 can't stay where that man is: he's taking 
himself all to pieces! " 



LETTER X, 

The Children's Friend First Use of Morphine in 
Nashville. 



R. STEPHEN CANTRELL was a dry- 
goods merchant. He was a half-brother 
of the Deadericks. He married Miss 
Wendall. John M. Hill, a young man, clerked in 
his store for a while. Then he quit clerking, and 
bought wood and cut a cord of wood every day. 
He brought it in a boat to the mouth of Lick Branch, 
and sold it there. Miss Phoebe Thompson came 
here from Cincinnati with the family of Mr. 
Thomas Coleman, who lived on Market Street. 
She married Mr. John M. Hill, who commenced 
to keep a small dry-goods store on Market Street. 
He and his wife stayed in the store, and they kept 
goods suitable for country people. The business 
grew so rapidly that they sent for two of her 
brothers, George and Charles Thompson, and 
kept them as clerks in the store. In a few years 
they had made enough money to retire, and they 
gave the store to George and Charlie Thompson. 
Mr. Hill bought the house on Church Street where 
Mr. John Aiken now lives. He lived there until 
his death. This house was built by Dr. John 
Wharton, the oldest son of Jesse Wharton, who 



OLD DAYS IN NASHVILLE. 75 

married a young lady from Baltimore, Miss Ma- 
son, whom he met while there studying medicine. 
She became dissatisfied with Nashville, and they 
sold the house to Mr. John M. Hill and went back 
to Baltimore. Mr. Charlie Thompson's first wife 
was a daughter of Dr. John Edgar, a Presbyterian 
preacher. She was a beautiful and accomplished 
young lady. She lived only a few years, and died 
leaving no children. After her death he married 
an adopted daughter of Judge White, of Gallatin. 
She was one of the best children I ever knew, and 
grew up to be one of the most talented, lovely. 
Christian women in Nashville. She was charita- 
ble and beloved by ever3^body, especially the poor. 
She died, leaving a family of good Christian chil- 
dren. Mr. Thompson has a dry-goods store here 
now and is a very prominent merchant. He has 
a beautiful home opposite the Vanderbilt. 

Mrs. James Scott, a lady from Ireland, and her 
husband came to Nashville in the early twenties, 
and she taught a female school. She first began 
in a rented room on High Street. Then she built 
a house and schoolroom on Vine Street, opposite 
the Episcopal Church. She was considered one 
of the finest lady teachers that ever taught here. 
She had two children, Walter and Mary Jane. 

Dr. Lapsley was a young Presbyterian preacher 
when he came here. He married a niece of James 
and Robert Woods, a Miss Walker. He took 
charge of the old Female Academy. There was 
a wealthy old bachelor who always boarded at the 



76 OLD DAYS IN NASHVILLE. 

Nashville Inn, and he took great interest in all the 
children who went to the Academy. He was one 
of the trustees, and visited the school every day. 
The children all called him " Uncle Tomm}^ 
Crutcher.'" He alvva3'S had his pockets filled with 
cakes, candies, or apples for the little children, who 
were perfectly devoted to him. He took as much 
interest in ever}^ child in the school as any father 
did in his family. As long as he lived he gave his 
kind care and talent to them. Many grandmoth- 
ers now living remember with pleasure *' Uncle 
Tommy Crutcher," for those he has helped in 
man}^ ways are now scattered all over the South. 

Robert Smile}^ a very worthy Christian man, 
owned a large lot on the corner of Cedar and 
Cherry Streets. His eldest son, Tom Smiley, is 
still livino- here. He married Emeline Norvil, a 
daughter of Moses Norvil, who built the house on 
the Franklin pike now owned by Mr. Douglas. 
He sold that and built the house where Mr. Allo- 
way lived. Henry Norvil, his eldest son, married 
Laura Sevier, a granddaughter of Gov. Sevier. 
Robert Smiley' s eldest daughter, Kitty, married 
Benjamin Bugg, one of the handsomest young 
men in Nashville at the time of his marriage. He 
built two three-story houses on Cherry Street. 
His family occupied one, and he rented the other. 
His daughters were all very pretty. One married 
Mr. Plater, and another married Mr. Church, of 
Memphis. 

Cabe Johnson, from Clarksville, was clerk in a 



OLD DAYS IN NASHVILLE. 77 

bank here. He was considered one of the hand- 
somest men ever in Nashville. He was tall, grace- 
ful, and elegant in appearance. He was a great 
beau, and was admired by all the young ladies. 
He married a 3^oung lady in Clarksville, and raised 
a f amity of very handsome and useful children. 
His daughter married Ed Hickman. His youngest 
son. Hick, was very handsome and one of the most 
fascinating young men I ever knew. 



I am ninety-tive years old. I am writing these 
recollections of Nashville entirely from memory. 
I don't expect all dates, names, and ever3^thing to 
be perfect, because a person of my age can not be 
expected to have a perfect memory. I may make 
errors, but I know that what I write about people — 
what they did, how they lived, etc. — is correct, I 
am quite certain that Randall McGavock wrote the 
conundrum that I said he did. Mr. McEwen 
might have written one, but I don't remember it. 
Randall McGavock's conundrum was: "Why is 
a poor horse like France? Because he has bony 
parts (Bonaparte) in him." My critic says a 
poor horse has more bony parts in him than 
France, and France has only one Bonaparte. I 
think France had more Bonapartes than a horse 
has bones. I am going to write, to the best of my 
memory, what I think will interest, amuse, and in- 
struct the people of Nashville. Owing to my age 
and circumstances, I hope my critics will deal 
gently with me, 



78 OLD DAYS IN NASHVILLE. 

I will now take up one of the most interesting 
characters ever in Nashville: William Walker, of 
Nicaraguan fame. His father, James Walker, 
was a Scotchman. He married Miss Mary Nor- 
vil, a very interesting and intelligent young lady. 
He lived on High Street, where Mrs. Gaut now 
lives, on property that he inherited from his uncle, 
Mr. Tate. He was at first a merchant on the 
Square, and was afterward a prominent insur- 
ance man. Many people here now will remember 
James Walker. He had four children: William, 
Norvil, James, and Alice. William was a very in- 
telligent child. He graduated at sixteen at the 
University of Nashville. He joined the Baptist 
Church soon after. He studied medicine here 
with Dr. Jennings, and then went to Paris and 
studied two years and then came back to Nash- 
ville. His mother was an invalid, and he spent 
every morning with her in her room reading to 
her. He was very intelligent and as refined in 
his feelings as a girl. I used to go often to see 
his mother, and always found him entertaining her 
in some way. He had two very special friends. 
Dr. Farquarheison and Dr. Lindsley, who lives on 
College Hill. He did not like to practise medi- 
cine, and went to New Orleans and began jour- 
nalism. He fell in love with a beautiful and intel- 
ligent young lady who was a mute. He was per 
fectly devoted to her, but she did not reciprocate 
his love. He went from New Orleans to Nica- 
ragua, Everybody is familiar with his career 



OLD DAYS IN NA.SII\'I I.LE. 79 

while there. He was a filibuster, and was shot in 
the fall of i860. He was a constant friend of 
mine until his death, and wrote to me regularly. 
The last letter I received from him was written 
three weeks before he was shot. His father got 
his rifle after his death. When the Federals came 
to Nashville they took all the guns, etc., they 
could find, and his father asked me to keep Will- 
iam's rifle. I kept it in my room. Alice Walker 
married Mr. Richardson, a very prominent man 
of Louisville. His son Jim was very peculiar and 
witty. He was very sick once, and told his moth- 
er that he didn't want but one funeral ticket print- 
ed at his death, and that was to tell old Mrs. John 
Wright that he didn't want her to get a ride at his 
funeral. Mrs. Wright and her daughters were 
dressmakers, and always went to every funeral in 
tow^n to get a ride. 

The house where Gen. Thruston now lives, on 
High Street, was built by a stone-mason named 
Shields. He was an old bachelor when he lived 
there. He afterward married Miss Clay. Be- 
fore he married he used to rent his house, and the 
first man who lived in it was Mr. Steven Watkins, 
who married Miss Baxter. Her father owned the 
ironworks. She had a ver^^ beautiful sister, Miss 
Emma Baxter. I used to claim her as one of my 
children because I was very fond of her. She 
married Mr. Mike Vaughan, and is still living on 
a farm near East Nashville, After Mi*, Watkins 



80 OLD DAYS IN NASHVILLE. 

left, Mrs. Bankhead lived in this house. She gave 
a large party to Mr. Ed Alloway, who married 
the eldest daughter of Mrs. V. K. Stevenson. It 
was a very large and fashionable assembly. Mrs. 
Blood, a very fascinating woman, was at the par- 
ty. They had just begun inhaling morphine here. 
She had a headache, and some one advised her to 
take morphine. She took it and was overpowered. 
They had to get a couch and put her on it. Dr. 
Kennedy was a very fascinating 3^oung physician 
from Kentucky. They called him in to see her. 
Mrs. Barrow asked me to go and see what to do 
for her. When I went to her she was hysterical, 
and said: "O Miss Jane, will I die?"' I said: 
" O no, Mrs. Blood; you will be all right in a few 
minutes." I bathed her head in ice-water, and she 
soon became faint. She was very beautiful and 
rather fleshy, and was dressed in pink satin. Aft- 
er that she was always a dear friend of mine, and 
never came to Nashville that she did not come to 
see me. 



LETTER XL 

A Quilting Joke on a Long Nose— The Oldest Brick 
House* 




NE of the old landmarks here was Will- 
iam Brookes' s old frame tavern on Cher- 
ry Street, between Church and Broad. I 
don't remember exactly when it was built, but it 
was about 1819 or earlier. Just opposite this was 
Mrs. Robertson's residence, made of hewn logs. 
She was living there when I came to Nashville in 
1804, and lived there until her death. She was 
the mother of Mrs. Hannon and Mrs. John Chil- 
dress. Another old landmark was a brick house 
in the bottom, on Wilson's Branch, where Christo- 
pher Brookes lived. Before he came here he 
lived on Stone's River, at Clover Bottom. In the 
early twenties he moved to Nashville and was the 
town constable. He had two or three boys and 
one beautiful girl, who had the most beautiful 
complexion I ever saw, and was very fleshy. She 
married Capt. Bell Snyder, a steamboat officer, 
and afterward went to New Orleans to live. 

In the country they used to have quiltings.v 
Mrs. John Hall, who lived on the Lebanon road, 
had a quilting and promised the young ladies a 
dance if they would finish the quilt by night. We 
finished it before night, and she invited all the 
6 



82 OLD DAYS IN NASHVILLE. 

young men of the neighborhood and sent for Mr. 
William Brookes to come and play the " fiddle " for 
us. It was a very wealthy, aristocratic neighbor- 
hood, and there were several very nice young men 
who were invited to the dance. They were Will- 
iam Cook, Standifer Hoggett, Dr. James Hoggett, 
Judge Turley, Lindsley Hall, Langston Cooper, 
William Cooper, and Jack Clopton. The 3^oung 
ladies were Misses Sallie Cook, Lucinda Lunden, 
Patsy Hall, Meeky Thomas, Agnes Clopton, and 
myself. We danced until twelve o'clock, and then 
we had some refreshments. We had tea-cakes, 
biscuit and butter and coffee, and nuts and apples. 
Every one of the young men who w^ere there be- 
came distinguished men. William Cook was a 
judge and married Judge Brown's sister, of Clarks- 
ville; James Hoggett was an eminent physician 
and his brother was a lawyer; Langston Cooper 
w^as a doctor and his brother a lawyer; Standifer 
Hoggett was a prominent lawyer. 



About 1817 or 1818 Mr. Thomas Hill, my 
brother-in-law, was a merchant on College Street. 
He had a clerk who was a Yankee. His family 
lived in the same house in which the store was 
kept, and very often after supper the clerks would 
come in and sit with the famil}/. There was a 
colored girl who always waited on the room, and 
Mr. Douglas, the Yankee clerk, said to her: 
'*Amanda, curtail the superfluity of this nocturnal 
luminary." She walked to the table, took the 



OLD DAYS IN NASHVILLE. 83 

snuffers, and snuffed the candle. I asked her 
what Mr. Douglass told her to do. She said: 
" He told me to take the snuffers and top the tail 
off the candle." 



Mr. John H. Smith had a dry-goods store on 
College Street, between the Square and Union 
Street. He had a very prominent nose and was a 
very ordinary-looking man. He was standing on 
the pavement in front of the store one day and a 
country wagon was passing. The countryman 
said to him: "Mister, will you please turn your 
nose the other way until I get my horses by?" 
The boys in the store heard it, and they laughed at 
him a great deal about it. When they saw any 
one with an unusually large nose they always said: 
"Will you please turn your nose the other way 
until I get my horses by! " 



Another old landmark here was at the corner of 
McGavock and High Streets, on the large vacant 
lot now owned by Mr. John M. Lea. There was 
about an acre of ground- laid off in a square, and 
one-story log cabins were built on each side of it. 
They were for the corporation hands, as the 
negroes who made the streets were called. Mr. 
James McLaughlin and his family lived in one of 
the houses and they attended to everything. His 
wife superintended the cooking for the hands. 
He had charge of this place for several years. 
He had several children. One of his daughters 



84 OLD DAYS IN NASHVILLE. 

was a beautiful woman. She married Mr. Mc- 
Kinney, who was a steamboat pilot. His father 
was a blacksmith and lived on Market Street. 
Another daughter of Mr. McLaughlin married Mr. 
James Jenkins, who died leaving two children, a 
son and a daughter, and they now live on Gowdy 
Street. 

John B. West had a cotton-factory just below 
Broad Street. I don't remember what street it 
was on, but it was near Wilson's Branch. Mr. 
Antony, who lived on the corner of Demonbreun 
and McGavock Streets, owned a potter}^ where 
he made pots, jugs, bowls, etc., out of clay. The 
old house was still there the last time I was in that 
neighborhood. 

The oldest brick house now standing here is on 
Cedar Street. It was built by Mr. Cockrill, and 
Mrs. Cockrill lived in it and kept a boarding- 
house. One of her daughters married Mr. Huff, 
a bricklayer. There was a brick Methodist 
Church on McLemore Street just below the negro 
St. John's Church. They sent a young preacher 
named Harwell to preach here. He married a 
grandaughter of old Mrs. Cockrill' s, Miss Huff. 
Later on Mrs. Cockrill left this house and built 
one on the corner of Line and College Streets. 
She kept a tavern there until her death. She lived 
to be a very old woman. Harwell quit preaching 
and became engaged in Odd-Fellow work, and is 



OLD DAYS IN NASHVIT.T.PJ. 85 

still employed in it. During the war his church 
was torn down by the Yankees, who used the 
bricks to make chimneys for their tents. 



Just below the depot Mrs. Fairfax, a widow, 
lived. She owned a small farm. She had two 
very lovely daughters and one or two ^ons. Her 
eldest daughter married Mr. Peck, and after his 
death she married Mr. Link. Her next daughter, 
who was a beautiful girl, married Mr. Lusk, 
a gentleman who came here from the North and 
kept a clothing-store. His widow^ now lives on 
the corner of Vine and Union Streets, just oppo- 
site the Polk Place. 



LETTER XII, 

A Time of Elaborate Entertainment, 




J]N 1825 Bishop Paine was in Nashvilie, 
and Bishop Oty, a young Episcopahan, 
had charge of a church in Frankhn. 



VTr. Paine and Mr. Oty were great friends, and 
were both young men at that time. There were 
very few Episcopahans in Nashville then, not 
enough to organize a church ; but they had a so- 
ciety, and the first Sunday in every month Mr. 
Paine gave up his church to Mr. Oty, and let him 
conduct the services. The Episcopalians were 
the families of Col. Rutledge, Mr. Godfrey, Fran- 
cis Fogg, and Mr. Sims. The Methodist Church 
was on Church Street, just below Demoville's 
drug-store. Mr. Paine boarded with my sister, 
Mrs. Hill, and every Sunday when Mr. Oty came 
to town he would stay at her house with Mr. 
Paine. Mr. Lion, an Episcopalian minister, came 
here from the North about this time. Mrs. Hill 
had a daughter between seven and eight years 
old. She had just been baptized by Mr. Paine. 
One of her little friends gave a dancing-party, 
and invited her to it. Her mother asked her if 
she would go to the dancing-party after having 
been baptized and becoming a Methodist. She 



OLD DAYS IN NASHVILLE. 87 

went off, and came back in a few minutes, and 
said: " Mother, I believe I will leave the Meth- 
odist Church and join the Piperterian [Presbyte- 
rian] Church." Mrs. Teatman was living next 
door, and Mrs. Hill told her to see that even her 
children saw the difference in the churches. 



Let us compare the manners and customs of 
these days with those of sixty or seventy years 
ago. In those days everybody had their own serv- 
ants, and had a great many. Every lady had an 
old servant, or " mammy," to take care of the 
children and look after the other servants. All of 
them were well-trained negroes. The mistress 
directed the head servant, and she superintended 
the others. The people had everything provided 
in the household that they needed. The store- 
rooms and pantries were filled with things suitable 
for housekeeping, and they were very sociable and 
hospitable. Every week some one in the city 
would give a dining to their friends. The ladies 
used to try to surpass each other in the elegance 
of these dinings. Soup, which was very rich and 
highly seasoned, was always the first course. 
They had rice with the soup. The next course 
would probably be a large boiled fish, elegantly 
cooked and served with creamed Irish potatoes, 
bread, and pickles. There was a whole boiled 
ham at one end of the table, and a roast of beef or 
turkey or ducks at the other, and all kinds of veg- 
etables, pickles (such as mangoes, cucumbers, 



S8 OLD DAYS IN NASHVILLE. 

sweet peaches, etc.), and jelly. The desserts 
were always nice plum puddings, apple custards, 
or pies, and always cakes and jellies. They nev- 
er had a dinner in those days without claret wine; 
it was indispensable. The girls were always re- 
quired to superintend the cleaning of the parlor 
and the bedrooms where the guests were enter- 
tained, and most of them were excellent house- 
keepers. They used candles altogether then, and 
had beautiful silver candlesticks. On the mantel 
in the parlor they generally had a large silver can- 
dlestick in the center, and on each end artificial 
flowers with a glass globe over them. The chairs 
were made entirely of wood, without plush or 
cloth covering. They were different colors, and 
were called Windsor chairs. The carpets were 
handsome, and the center-tables were very pretty, 
and had pier-tables at the side. There were large 
brass andirons in the fireplace, and they were al- 
ways kept bright and shiny. Some of them were 
plated with silver. The ladies kept nice things in 
the house, so that they might prepare for unex- 
pected compan}^ They always kept calf-heel 
jelly on hand, and dried beef and cakes of every 
kind. A delightful dish for breakfast was made 
by putting the calf -heels in batter and frying them. 
Thanksgiving Day they had a large boiled plum- 
pudding, with rich sauce, and other things for des- 
sert. One dish was made of saddle of venison, 
dressed with bread-crums and seasoned. The 
next day the tenderloin was cut in a chafing-dish 



6l>D DAYS IN NASMVILTvE. 89 

and laid in between the slices were bread-crums 
and butter and spices and a little jelly, and all was 
baked. The turkeys were dressed with oysters 
and bread-crums. Then they were buttered and 
rolled up in a cloth, and boiled until perfectly 
done. A rich gravy, made of oysters, butter, 
etc., was poured over them, and they w^ere eaten 
with celery. They had all kinds of fruits: figs, 
raisins, prunes, grapes, oranges, apples, etc. 



In olden days the ladies never had more than 
two nice dresses, no matter how wealthy they 
were. The}^ wore large, square w^hite handker- 
chiefs, which were richly embroidered or edged 
with lace. The home dresses were nice woolen 
dresses or calico wrappers, made to fit nice- 
ly. The young ladies always had some employ- 
ment when at home, some kind of needlework. 
When the young ladies who lived in the country 
wanted to go to the theater or to a party in town 
they used to come to town and stay with some of 
their friends. 

In the early twenties the Nashville Inn was a 
very fashionable hotel. Maj. Biddle, a widower 
from Philadelphia, came here with a family of 
beautiful, accomplished daughters. He boarded 
at the Nashville Inn. Mrs. Hoggett, a beautiful 
widow who lived in the country, always stayed 
there when she came to town. I called one day 
to see Mrs. Hoggett, and Mrs. Malvina Grundy 



yO OLD DAYS IN NASHVILLE. 

had called to see the Misses Biddle. Gen. Sam 
Houston, Maj. Howard, and several other gentle- 
men were in the parlor. One of them asked Mrs. 
Grundy to play on the piano, and she played 
and sang " Coming through the Rye." In after- 
years, when she was Mrs. Bass and had daugh- 
ters, she used to tell them that none of them were 
as graceful and interesting as she was when she 
was a young lady, and told them to ask me if it 
were not so. I used to laugh, and go to the piano 
and show them how she played and sang for those 
gentlemen at the Nashville Inn. She would say: 
*' Jane Thomas, that's the meanest thing you ever 
did: ridiculing me before these girls, just after I 
had told them what an elegant young lady I was." 
She certainly was one of the most intelligent, en- 
tertaining, and interesting young ladies ever in 
Nashville. I love her memory. Mrs. Grundy 
and Miss Biddle were married the same night; 
and as Miss Biddle was boarding at the inn, Mrs. 
Grundy invited her to come to their house and 
marry, which she did. Miss Biddle married Mr. 
Boyd, and Mrs. Grundy married Mr. Bass. 




LETTER XIII. 

A French Dancing^School — The Fogg Residence and 
Its Appointments, 

IN the forties a French dancing- master 
came here from New York. His name 
was St. Maud Stuart. He opened a very 
large dancing-school in the Masonic Hall, on Sum- 
mer Street, and had a great variety of fancy 
dances, all of which were very beautiful. At the 
close of the school he gave a ball. The partici- 
pants were dressed in costumes corresponding to 
the dances. Those w^ho danced the Highland fling 
were dressed in Scotch costumes. They w^ere 
Henrietta Cockrill, Madeline Morgan, Jennie 
Whitfield, and Medora Carter. They wore plaid 
skirts, pink sacks, and plaid sashes tied over their 
shoulders, and plaid stockings and pink slippers. 
He had a class of little girls between six and seven 
years of age. They were Sadie Gardner, Nannie 
McNairy, Jennie Craighead, Henrietta Cheney, 
and Annie Brinkley. They wore white mushn 
over blue silk, and their dresses had spangles on 
them. Annie Brinkley married Mr. J. B. Snow- 
don, of Memphis; Sadie Gardner married Mr. 
Buckner; Henrietta Cheney married Henry Nel- 
son, and after his death Mr. Robertson, of Mur- 
feesboro; and Jennie Craighead married Mr. Bun- 



92 OLD DAYS IN NASHVILLE. 

tin, and lived on Spruce Street. Sam Morgan was 
about nine or ten years old, and the handsomest 
boy I ever saw. He danced the " Fisher's Horn- 
pipe." They danced cotillions and the mazurka. 
Henrietta Cockrill, a ver}' beautiful woman, was 
Dr. William Nichol's first wife. She died with 
consumption about eighteen months after her 
marriage. Madeline Morgan married Dr. Dun- 
can, a nephew of Mrs. Eve. Jennie Whitfield 
moved away from here. Medora Carter married 
a Federal officer and moved to Washington. 



Mr. William Aiken was one of the kindest, most 
benevolent men that ever lived here. He was a 
member of the First Presbyterian Church. Mr. 
Thomas and William Aiken came here from Ire- 
land, and were wholesale dry-goods merchants. 
William married Felicia Grundy, Judge Grundy's 
youngest daughter. He bought a large brick 
house on Cedar Street, between Summer and 
Cherry. They had three children, two daughters 
and a son. His son died when he was only a few 
years old. Mr. William Aiken died when his 
eldest daughter was onl}^ three years old. She 
married Mr. Judson, a distinguished lawyer in St. 
Louis. His other daughter married Mr. Tom Sta- 
ger, a lawyer who owns a handsome home on 
Charlotte Avenue. After her husband's death 
Mrs. Aiken married Dr. Robert Porter, the young- 
est son of Alexander Porter. He studied medicine 
in Europe for several years, and became a very 



OLD DAYS IN NASHVILLE. 93 

prominent physician and professor in the medical 
college here. He died with the cholera, leaving 
only one son. His widow never married. Dur- 
ing the war she went to Washington Cit}- and de- 
voted her time and money to the care of the sick 
Confederate soldiers. She was very wealthy and 
one of the most charitable women ever in Nash- 
ville. She was President of the Orphan Asylum 
until her death. 

The first man who manufactured candles out of 
lard-oil was named Wharton. His wife was a very 
accomplished woman. They sta3^ed here for a 
few years, and he went off and never came back. 
Nobody here ev^er heard what became of him. 
He left a wife and one child, and they w^ent back 
to her home in Columbus, O. His factory was on 
College Street. A man named Baity made soaps 
ai\d candles. He had a pretty daughter who mar- 
ried Gen. Hickman. 



Mr. Garner was a cabinet-maker. His shop 
was on a little cross street between Market and 
Front. He married Miss Hill, a sister of Mrs. 
Ewing. One of her daughters married Mr. Ba- 
ker, and one married Mr. Washington. His son. 
Gen. Garner, lives in Springfield, Tenn. 



Mr. Joseph Woods was a banker and a very 
wealth}^ man. He married Miss West, but had 
no children. The house where Mr. Fogg now 



94 OLD DAYS IN NASHVILLE. 

lives on High Street was built by Mr. Thomas 
Fletcher, a lawyer, whose wife was Miss Sallie 
Tolbert. He was not able to finish the house, and 
Mr. Woods and Mr. Yeatman, the bankers, bought 
it. They had it finished handsomely, and Mr. 
Joseph Woods lived in it. Mrs. Woods was an 
elegant lady. She went to Philadelphia once or 
twice with her husband, and rode horseback, that 
being the only mode of traveling except by stage. 
Their house was very handsomely furnished. The 
halls were painted in landscapes. On the right- 
hand were the double parlors, and on the other 
side were the library and her bedroom. The 
bookcases were made of mahogany, and were 
handsomely carved. There was a beautiful cen- 
ter-table in the middle of the room, and the chairs 
were large and comfortable. The carpets in the 
parlors were Brussels, and the chairs were cov- 
ered with dark-blue plush. On the mantel were 
large silver candelabra with wax candles in them. 
The center-tables were small, but very handsome, 
as were the rug^s on the floor. Damask silk the 
color of the chairs and white lace curtains were 
hung at the window. The dining-room was an L 
room back of the parlors, and was beautiful^ fur- 
nished. The mahogany tables were very hand- 
some, and the sideboard was carved and contained 
beautiful cut glass and silver. The chairs were 
mahogany. The bedrooms were all on the second 
floor. In those days the bedsteads were very 
high, and had as many as three steps to get up in 



OLD DAYS IN NASHVILLE. 95 

them. The posts were very high, and were cov- 
ered with a canopy from which beautiful draperies 
hung. In each bedroom they always had a nice 
cushioned rocking-chair, besides the other chairs; 
a handsome wardrobe, bureau, wash-stand, and 
center-table. All her servants were well trained. 
They belonged to her. In the house there was a 
man servant and two maids. One of her servants 
married and had a little girl. When she was five 
years old Mrs. Wood took her in the house to pet 
and raise for her maid w^hen she was old. She 
had a cushion stool for her, and required a few 
little jobs. She never ate with the servants, but 
ate in the house after her mistress had finished. 
She continued to wait on Mrs. Woods as long as 
she lived. Her name was Bett}^, and she is still 
living here. Mrs. Woods's brother's wife, Mrs. 
West, died and left four little girls, one a baby. 
Mrs. Woods took them and raised them as if they 
were her own children. They all married nice 
gentlemen. The eldest one married Henry Yeat- 
man, the youngest brother of Mr. Thomas Yeat- 
man. One married a gentleman from New Or- 
leans. When the youngest child was about five 
years old Mrs. Woods went to Philadelphia. I 
went to tell her good-by, and she said she did not 
know what she was going to do with Louisa. I 
asked her to let me keep Louisa for her. I lived 
in the country then, and kept her with me all the 
summer, until her aunt's return. She married a 
gentleman from Philadelphia. 



y(3 OLD DAYS IN NASHVILLE. 

In 1837 ^^- Edmunson kept the City Hotel. 
His wife was one of the finest cooks in the 
country, and was beloved by all those who 
stayed in the house. He had a married son 
who assisted him. Mr. Bayard Snowdon was 
a dry-goods merchant who came from Boston. 
He married Miss Beaugardis, a daughter of Gen. 
Beaugardis, of New York. Their eldest son w^as 
a very young baby w^hen they boarded at the ho- 
tel. Mr. James Washington, who married Miss 
Susan Thomas, boarded there at the same time. 
Mr. Washington had consumption, and was con- 
fined to his room, the most of the time to his 
bed. He became very fond of Mrs. Snowdon 's 
little boy, and used to have him brought in and 
laid on the bed by him. He died in a short time, 
and willed his library and a handsome mahogany 
couch to this little boy, and Mrs. Washington's 
maid took charge of him until he w^as quite a 
large boy. That little boy is now Mr. Beaugardis 
Snowdon, of Memphis. He married Miss Annie 
Brinkley. Mr. Henry Ewing and his wife, who 
was Miss Susan Grundy, boarded at the hotel at 
the time. They had two httle daughters. His 
elder daughter married Mr. Thomas Aiken, a 
brother of Mr. William Aiken, who married Miss 
Felicia Grundy. The other daughter married 
Mr. Aiken, a nephew of Mr. Thomas Aiken. 
They all w^ent to New York to live. The last I 
heard of Mrs. Henry Ewing she had moved from 
New York to Paris, and was living there. Mr. 



OLD DAYS IN NASHVILLE. 97 

Thomas Aiken's eldest daughter married Mr. Ste- 
venson, the eldest son of Mr. V. K. Stevenson. 

The three prominent negroes of old Nashville 
were Fannie Grundy, Jennie McFarland, and Bob 
Porter. Jennie was a member of the First Pres- 
byterian Church. It was very unusual for a col- 
ored person to belong to the Presbyterian Church. 
She went every Sunday and had a seat in the 
back. She was supported by the Church until 
her death. She Hved to be quite old, and was re- 
spected by every one who knew her as a pious 
old woman. Aunt Fannie Grundy belonged to 
the Methodist Church. She is still living here, a 
very old woman. She took a great interest in the 
work of the Church, and always was good to the 
pastor and his wife, and was very charitable. She 
is now one hundred and four years old, and still 
retains all her senses and is able to see. Bob 
Porter was a splendid servant. When a party or 
dining was given, and a good servant was wanted, 
he was always called on to assist. In the spring 
and fall he helped with the cleaning, taking up 
the carpets, etc. In those days nearly everybody 
put up their own bacon, and he was called on to 
salt it, put it away, make the sausage, and attend 
to all such things for them. Aunt Fannie Grundy 
was the servant of Judge Grundy. 



Dr. McNeal, a most excellent Presbyterian, 
came from East Tennessee. He built a house on 

7 



98 OLD DAYS IN NASHVILLE. 

High Street, either Mr. Gaut's or Mr. McNairy's, 
I have forgotten which one it was. He married 
Miss Crockett, a young lady from Franklin. She 
had one daughter, and died, and he married the 
widow Hardin. She was a beautiful, elegant lady. 
She had two sons when she married Dr. McNeal. 



In 185 1 I went to board at the St. Cloud Hotel, 
and stayed there until 1854. ^^- ''Redhead" 
Martin and his family owned the building. It had 
formerly been his dwelling-house. It was added 
to and changed into a hotel. His first wife died, 
leaving no children. He then married a very 
handsome, intelligent young lady. Miss Dickinson, 
a daughter of Dr. Dickinson, who was a very 
prominent physician in Nashville. The St. Cloud 
was kept by Mrs. Edmunson, who had before 
kept the City Hotel. They kept an excellent 
boarding-house and had a great many boarders. 
James Hamilton and his wife and daughter, who 
was Gen. Thruston's first wife, and Auguste Ber- 
ry and his wife and daughter, Mrs. Dairy and her 
daughter, who married Randall McGavock, board- 
ed there while I was there. Miss Patsy Somer- 
ville, Mr. Anson Nelson, his wife and child, Mr. 
Macey, his wife and child. Col. Courtney and his 
famil}', Mrs. Sterling, Col. Plater and his wife, 
who was Miss Buchanan, and her sister; Mr. and 
Mrs. Nicholson, who vvere afterward proprietors 
of the Nicholson House, and Dr. Mayfield and his 
wife, were some of those who boarded there at the 



OLD DAYS IN NASHVILLE. 91) 

same time. The other boarders were: William 
Evans and his wife and children, Mr. Kingsley, 
Mr. Brownlow, a member of the Legislature; Dr. 
Wilham Morgan and his sister, Dr. Tom Maddin, 
Ben Roy and his sister. Gen. Stewart and his fam- 
ily, Mrs. Anne Pope, a niece of Mrs. Tom Kirk- 
man, and an aunt of Mrs. James Frazer; Dr. Jen- 
nings, who married Miss Mary Courtney; Mr. 
Finney, who was employed to go to China to show 
the Chinese how to raise cotton. At the table Dr. 
Hardin was next to me, Mrs. Pope next to him, 
Ed Alloway next to Mrs. Pope. I was fifty-one 
years old. Dr. Hardin was about twenty. I had 
always been very fond of him, and he was a pet of 
mine when he was a child. The boarders used to 
laugh and say there were two young men and 
their sweethearts who always sat together. Mr. 
Alloway became teased and moved his seat, but 
Dr. Hardin stayed next to me until he left. Rich- 
ard Bostick, who married Miss Cannon, Gov. 
Cannon's eldest daughter, was a member of the 
Legislature, and boarded at the St. Cloud during 
the winter. Gov. Johnson had a room next to 
mine. Just opposite mine was the room of Mr. 
and Mrs. Norton. Mr. Norton was a tailor. Gov. 
Johnson had been a tailor, and he and Mr. Norton 
became great friends. Whenever Mrs. Norton 
had anything very nice she would divide with Gov. 
Johnson. Amanda Morgan was a great friend of 
mine, and used to come to my room very often. 
One day Mrs. Norton came out of her room with 



100 OLD DAYS IN NASHVILLE. 

an umbrella which she mended for the Governor, 
and a very nice peach. She said: "Governor, 
will you eat a piece of peach out of my hand? I 
have mended your umbrella for you, and it's like 
yourself, a faded beauty." Amanda Morgan was 
in my room and heard it, and it was one of her by- 
words: " Like yourself, a faded beauty." Johnson 
was a tailor and Pepper was a blacksmith, John- 
son became Governor and Pepper became judge 
of the court. Johnson made Pepper a coat and 
sent it to him, and Pepper made Johnson a shovel 
and sent it to him. Miss Lizzie Young played on 
the guitar, and the people used to laugh and say 
that Dr. Maddin was very partial to her. He was 
very fond of music, and she would play and sing: 

'Tis vain to tell thee all I feel, 
Or say for thee I would die. 

Miss WilHe Hardin, the late Mrs. David McGav- 
ock, was married while I was boarding there. She 
graduated at the academy here. While she was 
at school her cousin, David McGavock, fell in love 
with her. After she graduated she went to Mem- 
phis to stay with her mother, who had married 
Mr. Owen, and wrote and asked me to buy her 
trousseau, which was very beautiful. Her wedding- 
dress was lace over beautiful glase silk, with two 
ruffles of lace one-half yard wide around the skirt, 
and a bertha and veil of the sam» kind of lace. 
She had her portrait painted in her wedding-dress. 

Mrs. Williams, afterward Mrs. Dorson, and her 
niece, Miss Annie Murphy, and her nephew, Per- 



OLD DAYS IN NASHVILLE. 101 

kins Allison, a young lawyer, and William Led- 
better, of Murfreesboro, were other prominent 
boarders at the St. Cloud. Of all those I have 
mentioned who boarded there while I did, the only 
ones now living are Col. Plater, Dr. Hardin, Dr. 
Morgan, Dr. Tom Maddin, Mrs. Judge Trigg, and 
Miss Lizzie Young. These are all I know to be 
living. 

While I was boarding at the St. Cloud I went 
into the country and bought two acres of ground 
in a dense forest on the Bosley pike. I built a 
brick cottage with two rooms, a passage and a 
a porch. Mrs. Ben Clark died, leaving a young 
baby. I begged them to give me the baby to raise. 
On January 20, 1853, I moved to my cottage and 
took the baby with me. The first night Edgar 
Hardin came and stayed with me to protect me. 
I had two negro servants; one was my maid, and 
a negro man stayed in the day. After supper the 
first night before I retired I had prayer. The next 
morning Edgar offered to come and stay with me 
the next night, but I told him: "No; I expect to 
make this my home, and I will not bother my 
neighbors to take care of me." I lived there six 
years before the war, and added three more rooms, 
a kitchen, and a porch to my house. I have enter- 
tained everybody in Nashville who was worth en- 
tertaining while I was there. 

In 1843 the smallpox broke out in Nashville, 
and in 1849 the cholera w^as very bad. James K. 
Polk died with cholera in that year. After he was 



102 OLD DAYS IN NASHVILLE. 

taken sick he sent for John B. McFerrin, was bap- 
tized, took sacrament, and joined the Methodist 
Church. He was buried from McKendree Church, 
and his funeral services were conducted by John 
B. McFerrin. The first case of cholera in Nash- 
ville w^as in 1833. 



LETTER XIV, 

The Good Times at Christmas — A Widower Not Easily- 
Discouraged, 

OR weeks before the old-time Christmas 
the ladies of the house were preparing 
for the Christmas dinner: penning up the 




turkeys to fatten, preparing mince-meat for pies, 
and making all kinds of pickles, and saving eggs 
and butter for cakes, making spice rounds, and 
such things. The week before they would pre- 
pare for Christmas festivities by making the pies, 
jellies, cakes, and plum puddings. They had 
large fireplaces and burned wood altogether, and 
on Christmas eve a large backlog that would burn 
all night was put on the tire. They would all get 
up about four o'clock in the morning and make a 
large bowl of egg-nog, and there was merry ma- 
king by trying to get each other's " Christmas 
gift." At nine o'clock they would have a big 
breakfast consisting of boiled spareribs, sausages, 
birds, hominy, light bread, biscuits, corn muffins, 
coffee, chocolate, and milk. After breakfast all 
the servants were neatly dressed and brought to 
the house to receive their presents. They would 
all try to catch "Ole Master and Mistus " in 
''Christmas gift." The " Ole Mistus" would 



104 OLD DAYS IN NASHVILLE. 

give all the little negroes crullers and tea-cakes for 
their Christmas gift, and to each family was given 
a supply of coffee, sugar, flour, lard, etc. To 
the house servants were given white aprons and 
checked handkerchiefs to tie around their heads. 
To the men were given money and tobacco. 

A big dinner was always prepared for Christ- 
mas. A nice stuffed ham, a big fat turkey nicely 
roasted, spice round, and pickles and jellies of 
every kind, and every winter vegetable, and al- 
ways a plum pudding with rich wine sauce, boiled 
custard, with whipped cream on it, fruit-cake, 
pound-cake, sponge-cake, apples, raisins and nuts, 
and wine, or cordial, and sweet cider, composed a 
part of most of the dinner. They had such din- 
ners all Christmas week. The young people in 
the neighborhood would come together and have 
dances and exchange gifts. The young men 
would give handsome books to the young ladies, 
and they would knit the young men pairs of 
gloves, or give them something that they had made 
themselves. At night they used to bake apples 
and put them in sweet cider and ginger-cakes for 
refreshments. They would play all kinds of 
games. 

My mother was a widow, and she and I were the 
only white people in our house. I used to go to 
town and have some money changed into dimes, 
quarters, and nickels. The negroes used to come 
in early Christmas morning to get " Miss Jane" in 
" Christmas gift," and I would give them a piece of 



OLD DAYS IN NASHVILLE. 105 

money according to their size. The little ones re- 
ceived a nickel, and so on. Then my mother 
would give them cakes. They were just as happy 
as they could be. We would give the men and 
boys gloves and handkerchiefs. 



At Easter time the rivers and creeks were gen- 
erally high, and we usually had an Easter fishing- 
party on Easter Monday. We w^ent fishing at 
Capt. Hoggett's Mill. We took lunch with us and 
stayed all day, and would go to Mr. Hoggett's for 
supper and to spend the evening. We played 
games and danced. Standifer Hoggett played the 
violin, and James played the flute, and we always 
had some very good music. We never stayed 
later than ten o'clock, and then the young men 
would go home with the girls. The young ladies 
in our neighborhood w^ere Misses Jones, Cooper, 
Hall, Thomas. The young men were the three 
sons of Capt. Hoggett, Standifer, James, and Jack ; 
William, Henry, James, and Langston Cooper; 
Jack and Ben Clopton ; John, Charles, Elisha, 
and Lindsley Hall; the Flournoys, Buchanans, 
Jones, and others. 

In 1812 Mr. Richard Drake kept a tavern at 
Clover Bottom. On the Fourth of July he gave a 
ball. Lucian Brown, the father of R. W. Brown 
and Miss Sallie Brown and Mrs. Bradford, was a 
young man then, and I danced with him at the 
ball. The young ladies who went were Misses 
Martha and Virginia Jones, Rody and Betsy Hall, 



106 OLD DAYS IN NASHVILLE. 

Jane Sandifer, Lucinda Lunden, Agnes and Eme- 
line Clopton, Sarah Priestly, Sallie Cook, Thomas, 
Harriet, and Fannie Drake. At supper they al- 
ways had iced cakes with sprigs of cedar stuck in 
them. Tied to the cedar were white roses made 
of tissue-paper, I made the roses. This was the 
decoration for the table. 

Capt. Camp lived at Todd's Knob, in a large 
two-story log house which belonged to Mrs. Jones, 
a sister of Col. Ed Ward. She was an elegant old 
Virginia lady. She had a daughter and two sons. 
Old Capt. Camp was a widower, and she was a 
widows He courted her, but she would not have 
him. He had a son. Dr. Camp, and he said he was 
going to make his son court Mrs. Jones's daugh- 
ter; and if he succeeded, he would court Mrs. 
Jones again. The son came, courted Dolly Jones, 
and married her; and then the Captain courted the 
widow again, and she married him. He was an 
elegant old aristocrat from Virginia. Mrs. Jones's 
eldest son married his cousin. Miss Jones, and his 
wife died and left tw^o daughters, Martha and 
Virginia, who went to live with their grandmother 
Camp. They married brothers named Upshaw. 
Mrs. Jones's youngest son married Miss Jane 
Munford. Her eldest daughter married John 
Wright, an old bachelor. 



Silas Flournoy came here from Virginia, and 
was of a very wealthy and aristocratic family. His 
wife was Miss Cannon, of Virginia. His eldest 



OLD DAYS IN NASHVILLE. 107 

son, Alfred, was very distincruished in the war 
with Gen. Jackson. He was wounded in the leg 
and it had to be cut off, and he wore a wooden leg. 
He belonged to Maj. Exum's Cavalry. After 
the war thev came home and Maj. Exum taught 
school. His schoolhouse was built on Mr. Clop- 
ton's land, at his big spring on Stewart's Ferry 
road to Lebanon. Mr. Ridley now owns the 
Clopton place. All the young men who were in 
the war with him and who were able went to 
school with him. They were Isaac Winston, Al- 
fred Flournoy, Maj. Baskerville, the Hoggetts, 
Coopers, Halls, Jack and Ben Clopton, Tom Ma- 
con, Purnell, Jones. There were also several 
girls belonging to these and other families. 

Mr. Edwin Cooper owned the place next to 
Capt. Hoggett, which now belongs to Mr. Ridley. 
His eldest daughter, Polly, married WiUiani Win- 
stead. Charlie married Maria Eastland. Annie 
married Mr. Deaderick. Langston Cooper was a 
doctor. I don't 'know whom the other children 
married. The family moved here from Alabama. 
Isaac Winston went to Alabama, and was Gov- 
ernor of the state. Lindsley Hall went to Prince- 
ton from Maj. Exum's school and studied law. 

Mr. Joseph Phillips lived on White's Creek. 
He had a large family. His eldest daughter mar- 
ried Jesse Wharton. His next two daughters mar- 
ried Joseph and William Williams, and his young- 
est daughter married Mr. Martin. His son's first 
wife was Miss Clark, a sister of James B. Clark. 



108 OLD DAYS IN NASHViLlE. 

After her death he married Miss Eliza Maguire, of 
Franklin. 

Next to Mr. Phillips, on White's Creek, young 
Mr. Hooper lived. His first wife was Patsey 
Hooper. She had one child and died, and he 
married her cousin, Mary Ann Keeling. The 
next farm belonged to Mr. Joseph Hooper. He 
had a splendid farm, and it was enclosed by a 
rock wall. He lived on the north side of White's 
Creek, and the creek at the road on the north side 
of it passed through the farm and just in front of 
his house. His eldest daughter, Betsy, married. 
Dick Hyde, and lived at Hyde's Ferry. Patsey 
married her cousin, Mr. Hooper, and Jim, his 
only son, married Miss H^^de, and lived on his 
father's farm. Mr. Parker lived on the farm next 
to Mr. Joseph Hooper's, and next to Mr. Parker's 
Mr. Ewing lived. He had a large family, but I 
don't remember whom they married. Then came 
the Youngs, Laniers, Pages, Boyds, Morrisons, 
who lived in that neighborhood. Where Buena 
Vista ferry now is Mr. Douglas lived and kept a 
ferry. 

Old Mr. Robert Weakley was a very influential, 
intelligent man. Mr. Jim Richardson has his 
summer home where Mr. Robert Weakley used to 
live. He had three daughters and one son. His 
eldest daughter married Jack Reid, and went to 
Huntsville to live. His second daughter mar- 
ried Maj. Hickman. His youngest daughter 
married Lucian Brown. His son married Miss 



OLD DAYS IN NASHVILLE. 109 

Manford, of Boston, who was a beautiful and ac- 
complished woman. They lived in Rutherford 
county. 

Mr. Robert Weakley's brother, Sam, owned a 
farm where Mr. Irby Morgan's nursery used to 
be. His .son, Dr. Weakley, was a Methodist 
preacher, and married Miss Porter, the daughter 
of a Methodist preacher of Williamson County. 

Mr. Overall owned the place where Mr. Hiram 
Vaughan now lives. Mr. Mike Vaughan was Mr. 
Overall's overseer. Mr. Overall died, leaving 
four children, three sons and a daughter. His 
sons were Methodist preachers. His daughter 
had one son, who married John Price. After Mr. 
Overall's death Mr. Paul Vaughan married his wid- 
ow, and had one child, who married Dr. Higgin- 
bottom, a very prominent young physician from 
Virginia. Mrs. Paul Vaughan died, and her hus- 
band married his first wife's cousin. Miss Sallie 
Thomas. He had two sons, Mike and Hiram, 
and one daughter, who married Mr. Lawrence. 



LETTER XV, 

How Two Girls Outwitted the Indians— A Visit from 
Gen. Washington. 




OBERTSON TOPP was a very promi- 
nent man. He had a large farm on Mill 
Creek. His wife was Miss Nancy Ev- 
erett, whose father lived on the west side of Mill 
Creek, and on the east side was Maj. Buchan- 
an's residence. The fort was on the east side of 
the creek, and Nancy Everett and Sallie Ridley 
had been over to the Everett farm, and as they 
were going home on horseback they met a body 
of Indians. Nancy said: " O Sallie, look at the 
Indians there on the road! " And Sallie told her 
to throw her foot over the saddle, and they whipped 
their horses into a gallop, and when they came 
to the Indians Sallie said: " Get out of the way, 
you redskins I " The Indians were so surprised 
that they thought they were soldiers, and let them 
pass. As soon as they saw they were women 
they chased them, but the ladies reached the fort 
in safety before the Indians could overtake them. 
Sallie Ridley married Maj. Buchanan. He 
owned a large mill. His sons were Moses, Alex, 
William, James, Dick, and Henry, and two sons 
who died in 1816. His daughters were Betsy, 



OLD DAYS IN NASHVILLE. Ill 

Jane, Sallie, and Nancy. Betsy married Tom Ev- 
erett, a farmer; Jane married Mr. Goodwin; Nan- 
cy married Mr. Smith, and Sallie married James 
Williams. William Buchanan married Miss Rob- 
erts, his cousin, and Moses also married his cousin, 
Miss Sallie Ridley. Dick married Miss Jane 
Murphy. Henry, the youngest, lived at the home 
place, and I don't remember that he ever mar- 
ried. 

Nancy Everett married Mr. Topp, a very ex- 
cellent man and a farmer. He reared a large 
family of children. His eldest daughter married 
Tom Martin. His next daughter married Major 
Claiborne, and his other daughter married Mr. 
Lions, a china-merchant. He had several sons, 
most of whom moved away from here. They all 
became distinguished men. Mrs. Claiborne lived 
on Spruce Street, next to Mrs. Lindsley. Mrs. 
Lion lived on High Street, between Church and 
Broad. 

Tom Martin was a dry-goods merchant on the 
Square for a long time, and then moved to Pu- 
laski. He was the father of the young lady after 
whom Martin College was named. 



One of the old settlers of Nashville, Mr. John 
Thompson, lived out on the Franklin turnpike. 
He was a farmer, and lived on a farm on which 
his son John now lives. His first wife was Miss 
Mary Washington, a beautiful and accomplished 
young lady, and a sister of Gilbert, James, and 



ri2 OLD DAYS IN NASHVILLE. 

Thomas Washington. She had two daughters, 
and died with consumption when they were quite 
young. He then married the widow Buchanan, a 
most excellent woman. She had two daughters 
when she married Mr. Thompson. She died, 
leaving her two daughters, Sallie and Maggie 
Buchanan, to Mr. Thompson. Sallie married 
Mr. Thomas Plater, and Maggie never married. 
His third wife was also a widow, Mrs. Rolins, 
whose maiden name was Miss Raines. She had 
one son, Mr. Robert Rolins. She died, leaving 
one daughter, Elizabeth Thompson, who married 
Mr. Joe Horton. His fourth wife was the widow 
House, who had one daughter, Miss Sallie House. 
She had two sons, John and Joe Thompson. 
Sallie married Mr. William Ewing. She died, 
leaving one daughter, Miss Mary Ewing, who has 
recently married Mr. McNealy. His eldest son, 
John Thompson, married Miss Con Overton, the 
youngest daughter of Mr. John Overton. Joe 
married Miss Ella Vaughan, a daughter of Mr. 
Mike Vaughan. Their mother is still living. She 
is a sister of Mr. Mortimer and James Hamilton. 
Mr. Jesse Wharton lived on the Hillsboro pike. 
He married Miss Phillips, a sister of Mr. William 
Phillips. She had two children, Joe and Sarah 
Wharton. Joe Wharton was a very eminent 
young physician. He married Miss Mason, of 
Baltimore, whom he met while there studying 
medicine. Sarah married Mr. Green, a very 
prominent young lawyer of Mobile. Mr. Jesse 



OLD DAYS IN NASHVILLE. 113 

Wharton's first wife died, and he married Miss 
Rice, who had been living with his wife. She 
had several children. William married Dr. Ed- 
gar's daughter. 

In 1808 Gen. George Washington came to my 
father's house, when we lived on the Tolbert 
farm. He owned and lived on the farm that Mr. 
Overton Lea now owns. His wife was Miss 
Love, of Virginia. His eldest son, Gilbert, mar- 
ried Miss Wharton, a daughter of Mr. William 
Wharton. His next son, Thomas, married a wid- 
ow, Mrs. Osborne, who was Miss Alloway, of 
Philadelphia. She had one child, Sarah Osborne, 
who married Alex Nichol. Gen. George Wash- 
ington's third son, James, was a wholesale com- 
mission merchant, a partner of James Wood. He 
married Susan Thomas, my sister. William 
Washington, his fourth son, married Miss Susan 
Trimble, and his youngest son, George, died 
when he was twenty-one, never having married. 
His eldest daughter, SalHe, married Thomas Mas- 
terson, a very wealthy dry-goods merchant. Fan- 
nie married Thomas J. Reid, and his youngest 
daughter, Mary, was the first wife of John Thomp- 
son. 

Mr. John Nichol lived where Mr. John Will- 
iams's house now is on the Harding pike. His 
wife was Miss Scales. He was very wealthy, 
and a member of the Presbyterian Church, He 

8 



114 OLD DAYS IN NASHVILLE. 

had three daughters. He bought the farm on 
which he Hved from Mr. Robert Hill, the grand- 
father of Mrs. Emeline Hamilton. His eldest 
daughter, Polly, married Mr. Joe Irvin, the eldest 
son of a very wealthy man. Miss Nancy Nichol 
married Willoughby Williams. She was a lovely, 
good. Christian woman, as were his other daugh- 
ters, Polly and Jane. Jane married Christopher 
Williams, a brother of Willoughby Williams. Wil- 
loughby's eldest daughter, Mary, married Cur- 
ren McNairy. His second daughter married Mr. 
Lewis. His eldest son, John, married Elizabeth 
Boyd. Robert married Mr. Sam Morgan's third 
daughter, and one of his sons never married. 

Mr. Sam Watkins's father and mother came to 
Nashville in the early settlement. They both died 
with fever, leaving six children, and the neighbors 
took the children to raise. Two of them lived at 
Gen. Andrew Jackson's. The eldest daughter 
married Solomon Clark. When Sam Watkins 
was a child he lived at Gen. Jackson's and part 
of the time with his two sisters. Margaret Wat- 
kins married Mr. Allen, who lived on Stone's 
River and kept a dry-goods store. One of his 
sisters married Mr. Lewis, and one married Mr. 
Pew, and I don't remember whom the other one 
married. Sam Watkins learned the bricklayer's 
trade with his brother-in-law, Clark, and made 
his money that way. He lived on Line Street, and 
had a very large brick-yard. W^hen the negroes 
were freed he had nearly fifty negro men whom he 



OLD DAYS IN NASHVILLE. 115 

had taught to make and lay brick. He made a 
veiy large fortune, and everybody knows how ju- 
diciously it has been laid out. He never married, 
but died a respected and much-beloved old bache- 
lor. He built a lovely little Methodist church and 
a parsonage on Park Street, and gave them to the 
Methodists. The Yankees destroyed them during 
the war. He gave twelve acres to the town to make 
a park out of. It is on Line Street, and is known 
as Watkins Park. 

In 1815 a family from France came to Nashville. 
It consisted of Mr. Abercrombie, his wife, two 
daughters, and one son. They were very elegant 
and accomplished people. Wiley Barrow owned 
the farm next to the one John Harding now owns. 
He had a large one-story frame house. He rented 
the place to Mr. Abercrombie, and he opened a 
school there. It was called Belmont Domestic 
Academy. He taught French, music, and dan- 
cing, his wife taught the literary course, and his 
daughters assisted them. It was the first school 
of any importance here, and they had a large num- 
ber of boarders. His boarders were Jane Barrow, 
who married Henry Cobb; Jane, Matilda, Miner- 
va, and Maria Childress, and also Elizabeth Chil- 
dress, Sarah and Susan Childress, of Murfrees- 
boro; Mary Hobson, Sophie Overall, Maria 
Eastland, and Nancy Irvin, Sarah and Katharine 
Bell, Eliza Hightower, EHza Smith, Myra Boyd, 
Harriet Overton, Gen. Overton's daughter; Court- 
ney Goodridge, Maria and Elizabeth White, Bes- 



116 OLD DAYS IN NASHVILLE. 

sie Hayes, a niece of Mrs. Gen. Jackson; Rachel 
Donelson, Eliza Bell, from Russellville, Ky. ; 
Amelia Hadley, Eliza Peacock, whose father was 
a United States officer; Eliza Harris, who died 
while she was going to school; Katharine Kates, 
from Kentucky; Lucy Tally, from Gallatin; and 
myself. They married as follow^s: Jane Childress 
and Sam Marshall; Matilda Childress and Judge 
Catron; Minerva Childress and Ben Litton, a 
brother of Mrs, Jesse Thomas; Maria Childress 
and Judge Brown; Elizabeth Childress and V. K. 
Stevenson; Sarah Childress and Dr. Rucker; 
Susan Childress and James K. Polk, President of 
the United States; Mary Hobson and Mr. Knox, 
whose daughter married WilHam Gales; Sophie 
Overall and John Price; Maria Eastland and 
Charlie Cooper; Nancy Irvin and WilHam Arm- 
strong ; Sarah Bell and Mr. Crockette ; Eliza High- 
tower and Judge Brown; Eliza Smith and Denny 
Hadley; Myra Boyd and Mr. Rucker, and then 
Jesse Maxwell: Courtney Goodridge and Mr. 
Nelson; Maria White and Mr. Donelson; EHza- 
beth White and Mr. Whitaker; Bessie Hayes and 
Mr. Chester, who carried the report of the Presi- 
dent's election to Washington; Rachel Donelson 
and her cousin, Mr. Donelson ; Eliza Hell and Mr. 
Rumsey; Amelia Hadley and Dr. Hadley. I have 
never been unfortunate enough to marry. 




LETTER XVL 

The First Methodist Conference Held in Nashville, 

N October of 1819 the Conference of 
the Methodist Church was held in Nash- 
ville. It was held in the Methodist 
Church on Church Street. The church was be- 
tween College and Cherry, just across the alley 
from Demoville's drug-store. I don't remember 
whether Bishop Roberts or Bishop George presi- 
ded at this Conference, but I know that Logan 
Douglas was the presiding elder of the district. 
Robert Paine, Henry B. Bascom, Thomas Mad- 
din, Sterling Brown, Hartwell Brown, Samuel 
Howell, Lewis Harrett, and William Carpenter 
Page were some of the young preachers at the 
Conference. The citizens of Nashville who be- 
longed to this church were Thomas Reid, John 
Price, Joseph T. Litton, Mrs. Sneed, Miss Wes- 
ley Harvey, Nicholas Hopson, Mrs. Hopson, Mr. 
Turner, Richard Garrett, Mr. Lanier, a local 
preacher, and his wife. 



Henry B. Bascom and Thomas Maddin remained 
in the city three months after Conference before 
they received their appointments. Thomas Mad- 
din came here from Baltimore, where he was edu- 
cated for a Catholic priest. He married when he 
was nineteen, and his father disinherited him. He 
came to Kentucky and lived with a gentleman and 
worked with him. He was taken very sick while 



118 OLD DAYS IN NASHVILLE. 

with this gentleman, and while on the sick-bed was 
converted and became a Methodist preacher, and 
joined the Methodist Church at Nashville in 1819. 
His first wife died in two months after he married 
her. His second wife was the dauohter of his 
friend in Kentucky. Henry Bascom and Thomas 
Maddin were the handsomest men I ever saw. 
Henry B. Bascom preached on Sunday afternoon 
at three o'clock at the First Presbyterian Church. 
My brother-in-law, Thomas G. Bradford, and I 
went to hear him. His text was: "Who hath 
believed our report? and to whom is the arm of 
the Lord revealed?" He preached the finest ser- 
mon heard at that Conference. 

Sterling Brown and William Carpenter were 
appointed on the Nashville Circuit, which com- 
prised Wilson, Davidson, and WilHamson Coun- 
ties. There was the greatest revival under this 
trio of preachers ever known. In September of 
1820 Sterling Brown held a camp-meeting at 
Thomas's Camp-Ground, in Williamson County. 
A great many professed religion in this meeting. 
At that meeting Martin Clark was converted and 
gave himself as a preacher. There were no 
churches in the country at this time, and the 
preaching was done in the farmhouses. These 
houses were from five to ten miles apart. On 
Tuesday the meeting was held at Mr. Thompson's 
home, on the Nolensville pike. On Wednesday 
they preached at Mr. Sam Blair's, the father of 
Mrs. McWhirter. On Thursday they preached 



OLD DAYS IN NASHVILLE. 119 

at Mr. Tate's, in the Hermitage neighborhood. 
While the meeting was being held at Mr. Blair's 
his wife was taken sick with consumption, and we 
had to go out and hold the services under the apple- 
trees, and when it rained we went to the large 
barn. Lucinda Lunden, a beautiful young lady 
and a granddaughter of Maj. Hall, was convert- 
ed during this meeting, and was baptized under 
an apple-tree. During this same year Rhody 
Clopton, the grandmother of Mrs. David McGav- 
ock; Meeky Thomas, Eliza Thomas, and Jane 
Thomas, joined the Church at Mr. Sam Blair's. 
During the year Mrs. Blair died, and Mr. Blair 
moved away. After that the preaching was done in 
a schoolhouse on McCrory Creek. John Holland 
and David Scales preached in this schoolhouse. 
John Holland was then only seventeen years old. 
The only members of this church were Mr. Blair 
and his three daughters; Nancy, Jane, and Sallie 
McNeal; Eliza Thomas, Meeky Thomas, Jane 
Thomas, and Mrs. Sanders. Mrs. Clopton and I 
decided we could raise a subscription and build a 
church. Mr. Clopton gave us an acre of ground. 
Her three brothers, Standifer, James, and John 
Hoggatt, gave us $250. Mr. Hill, my brother-in- 
law and the grandfather of Joseph Hamilton, 
raised $250. We built a cedar hewn-log church 
on the acre of ground at McCrory's Creek, on 
the Lebanon pike, near what is now the Ridley 
farm. We built a nice church and put a good 
stove in it. The church was dedicated at a quar- 



120 OLD DAYS IN NASHVILLE. 

terly meeting, and Frank Owen preached the first 
sermon. Robert Alexander, the great preacher, 
and Mr Winburn were some of the first preachers 
who preached in this church. 



The Moore family was a prominent one in the 
Methodist Church at this time. The family con- 
sisted of Mrs. Moore and one daughter, Polly. 
Mrs. Moore was a grand woman, and a great 
worker in the Church. Mr. and Mrs. Moore 
lived in the country and worked for Mr. Edmond- 
son, grandfather of John Bell. Mr. Moore died, 
and his wife and children came to Nashville. 
Mrs. Moore apprenticed her son to David Snow, 
the tinner. She sewed for a living until her sons 
were able to support her. She was one of the 
brightest Christians I ever knew. Her home was 
always the preachers' home when they were in 
Nashville. Her sons became prominent and use- 
ful citizens. William Moore married Tabitha 
Sanders, a daughter of Herbert Sanders, a preach- 
er in Sumner County. James Moore married a 
daughter of Lens Keeling. John Price, men- 
tioned before as a prominent Church-member, was 
a salt-merchant. His wife was Joanna Rucker, 
an aunt of Andrew Jackson. Tom Price, the 
brother of John, married Miss Robertson, of 
Kentucky, and afterward moved to New Orleans. 
Matthew Quinn was the first local Methodist 
preacher in Nashville. In 1816 he married Miss 
Harriet Elliston, a daughter of Joseph ElHston. 



LETTER XVIL 

Dr, Edgar^ Pastor of First Presbyterian Church — Social 
Diversions in the Old Days. 



^ 



PROMINENT member of the First 
Presbyterian Church asked me to write 
my recollections of Dr. Edgar while he 
was pastor of that church. In May, 1833, Dr. 
Edgar and Dr. John Newland Maffitt preached 
their first sermons here on the same day. They 
were two of the most eloquent and distinguished 
preachers ever in Nashville. Dr. Maffitt was a 
Methodist preacher from Ireland, and Dr. Edgar 
came here from Kentucky. Dr. Edgar was one 
of the finest-looking men I ever saw. He was 
very tall and weighed one hundred and seventy- 
five pounds, and was a distinguished orator. He 
had a wife and five children, three daughters and 
two sons. His eldest daughter married Mr. 
Wharton, a son of Mr. Jesse Wharton, then a 
member of Congress. They went to Mississippi 
to live. His second daughter, a beautiful and ac- 
complished girl, was Mr. Charlie Thompson's 
first wife. She died young, leaving no children. 
Dr. Edgar's third daughter married Mr. McClel- 
lan, a dry-goods merchant, and went to St. Louis, 
where she was still living when I last heard of her. 



i 



122 OLD DAYS IN NASHVILLE. 

His eldest son, Andrew, had some business in 
Lebanon. I think he was engaged in the Cum- 
berland Presbyterian College there. His other son 
married a lovely young lady from Kentucky, and 
left Nashville to accept some appointment under 
the government. He had a ver}^ lovely and inter- 
esting family of children. 

Dr. Edgar was really one of the most comfort- 
ing and soothing men in a sick-room I have ever 
met, and prayed the most beautiful prayers. He 
was stationed in Nashville nearly thirty years. 
He died early in the sixties, but I do not remem- 
ber exactly what year. His first wife was Miss 
Todd, a most intelligent woman, and of a fine fam- 
ily from Kentucky. For years before she died 
she was a great sufferer from inflammatory 
rheumatism. She was an intimate friend of mine, 
and often when her physician was out of town she 
would send for me. In all of her sufferings she 
was remarkably patient. After her death Dr. Ed- 
gar married Mrs. Crittendon, the widow of John 
J. Crittendon, who was killed in Little Rock, Ark. 
Her maiden name was Morris, and she came here 
from Kentucky. She was a very elegant woman, 
tall, handsome, and dignified. One of her sisters, 
Mary Morris, married one of the best lawyers in 
Little Rock, named Charlie Bertrand. Dr. Ed- 
gar was an unusually popular man, and had mar- 
ried more couples and preached more funeral 
sermons than any other Presbyterian preacher in 
Nashville. The first sermon he preached here 



OLD DAYS IN NASHVILLE. 123 

Mrs. Thomas Yeatman, afterward Mrs. John 
Bell, went to hear him, and in the evening she 
went to the Methodist Church to hear Mr. Maffitt. 
Mr. Litton spoke to her, and asked her how she 
liked the new preacher. She said she went to 
the First Presbyterian Church in the morning and 
heard a most eloquent sermon, and had come to 
the Methodist Church that night and heard a most 
splendid performance. After that Mr. Yeatman 
and Dr. Maffitt went to Louisville on the same 
boat, and Mr. Yeatman was taken sick and died. 
Before his death Mr. Maffitt prayed with him, and 
under his influence Mr. Yeatman was converted. 
After Mr. Yeatman' s death Mr. Maffitt wrote 
Mrs. Yeatman a beautiful letter of sympathy, 
which she had printed in golden letters and al- 
ways kept in her room. 



Mrs. Clopton had a large family of children, 
and every spring and fall she had a sewing-bee. 
She invited all the girls and boys in the neighbor- 
hood. The young men used to thread the needles 
and wait on us. Mrs. Clopton always had a big 
dinner for us: several kinds of meats (such as 
chicken pie and boiled ham), all kinds of vege- 
tables, jelly and pickles; and then the desserts, 
which were generally apple pie in the summer, 
peach potpie in the fall, and in the spring straw- 
berries or cherry pie. In the fall we always had 
cider to drink. We enjoyed Mrs. Clopton's sew- 
ing-bees very much. We generally stayed until 



124 OLD DAYS IN NASHVILLE. 

about ten o'clock, and played games after it was 
too late to sew; and sometimes we had a dance. 
Another thing we used to enjoy were the fishing- 
excursions. We would get up a party of young la- 
dies and young men to go to the river fishing. 
We always took our lunches with us and stayed 
all day. There were a great many hazelnuts not 
far from us, and going nutting was one of our fa- 
vorite diversions. During the watermelon season 
we would give watermelon parties. 

Every 14th of February we would meet at the 
home of one of the girls and have a valentine- 
drawing. The girls would either cut or paint 
pieces for the young men to put in their watches. 
I was the artist of the crowd, and would paint 
double hearts with an arrow through them and a 
wreath around them for the girls to send to the 
young men. Some of the girls painted forget- 
me-nots, and others painted heartsease. 

Another amusement was the tenpin alley. We 
had a plank walk from the house to the front gate, 
which we used as our tenpin alley. The singing- 
school was also an enjoyable amusement. It was 
held on Saturday at the schoolhouse. 

George Ridley married Mr. Tim Dodson's 
daughter. Mr. Dodson kept a hotel at Clover 
Bottom, and owned a ferry. His daughter was 
very beautiful, and had lovely black hair and eyes. 
The day after they were married they went to his 
father's house and had a reception, or "infair," 
as it was called in those days. The dinner was 



OLD DAYS IN NASHVILLE. 125 

set out in the yard, under the trees, on a long 
work-bench. They had the finest kind of dinner. 

Dr. Yandall, formerly of Murfreesboro, after- 
ward of Louisville, Ky., had just married Mrs. 
Wendel, and they came down to the " infair " 
with Moses Buchanan, who married George Rid- 
ley's sister. They did not have big church wed- 
dings then, as they do now, but everybody 
was married at home and had the wedding-sup- 
pers prepared at home. 

In those days they did not preach the funeral 
sermon when the corpse was buried, but set apart 
a certain day for that, and prepared a big dinner, 
and everybody who came to the funeral was in- 
vited to stay to dinner. They generally had the 
funeral services at the house, but never on the day 
of the burial. When Mr. WilHam Harding, Sr., 
died the funeral sermon was preached a month 
after his death, and Parson Hume preached it. 
They gave a big dinner, and everybody who came 
stayed to it. 

One of the most prominent families of the old 
times was that of Mr. Davis, who lived in the 
neighborhood of the Hardings, Shutes, New- 
soms, on Richland Creek. He had six daugh- 
ters. The eldest married Joe Horton, a very 
prominent man, who owned a farm on the Frank- 
lin pike, just this side of where Mr. Douglas 
lives. Joe Horton' s eldest daughter married 
Alex Fall, the father of Horton Fall, and his 



126 OLD DAYS IN NASHVILLE. 

second daughter married Mr. Mason, a nephew 
of the Mr. Mason who married Judge Grun- 
dy's second daughter. His next daughter mar- 
ried Richard Dunn. His son, Joe Horton, mar- 
ried Miss EHzabeth Thompson, and his other 
son married Miss Graham Cannon, a daughter 
of Gov. Cannon. Mr. Davis's second daugh- 
ter married Dr. Patton Robertson, the young- 
est son of Gen. Robertson. His next daugh- 
ter married Mr. Edward Hicks; and his young- 
est daughter, Fannie Davis, married Morris 
Harding. He had two beautiful daughters who 
never married, but died young with consumption. 
One of them was the prettiest girl I ever saw. 
All of Mr. Davis's children raised distinguished 
families, and their children all became useful 
citizens. 




LETTER XVIIL 

Nashville During the War— Hospital Scenes — In the 
Hands of the Enemy, 

FTER I returned from Virginia, where I 
had been nursing the sick soldiers, Mr. 
Elliott offered the ladies his beautiful sum- 
mer home for a hospital. It is where the Protes- 
tant Orphan Asylum now is, and he owned three 
or four acres of beautiful forest land, and it was 
filled with squirrels and birds. The house was 
handsomely furnished, and he gave it as it was. 
The ladies of the neighborhood supplied it with 
food, clothing, blankets, nurses, cooks, and ever}^- 
thing necessary. The ladies who contributed 
were: Mrs. Plater, Mrs. Deaderick Cantrell, Mrs. 
Doctor Berry, Mrs. Foster, Mrs. Joseph Woods, 
Mrs. Alex Fall, Mrs. William Berry, Mrs. William 
Lawrence. Their husbands would come over at 
night and sit up with the sick soldiers. They 
asked me to go over and take charge of the hos- 
pital. The first doctor who attended the soldiers 
was Dr. Rowland; and then Dr. Sam Black, a 
young physician from Murf reesboro ; and after- 
ward Dr. Gray, of Louisville. Dr. David Yan- 
dell had charge of the hospital and sent the 
doctors out. After the battle of Fishing Creek, 



128 OLD DAYS IN NASHVILLE. 

when Gen. Zollicoffer was killed, several sol- 
diers were sent to Nashville, and three wounded 
ones, one with inflammator}^ rheumatism and two 
with typhoid fever, were sent to my hospital. Mr. 
Wilkerson, who had typhoid fever, was delirous 
when he arrived, and died after he had been here 
only three days. He was one of the handsomest 
men I ever saw. The one who had inflammatory 
rheumatism was a young boy between fifteen and 
sixteen years old. He was so sick he could not 
bear to have an3^body touch him. Whenever any- 
thing touched him that hurt him he would scream 
and say that the " valrus " had hold of him. Of 
all the sick soldiers I nursed, I never had as much 
sympathy for any of them as I had for that boy. 
I knew he had a good mother, for his clothes were 
so beautifully made, and with so much care. He 
did not live long. He was from Knoxville. 

We received the news of the fall of Fort Donel- 
son Sunday afternoon about three o'clock. I 
went around and gave all the sick soldiers their 
supper that night. There was one soldier ver}^ tall 
and large named Butler, who helped me to wait on 
the other soldiers as soon as he was able. About 
nine o'clock I was sitting in my room, and he came 
and knocked at my door and said: "Miss Jane, 
go see where all those sick soldiers are that you 
fed in bed." There were but two in bed. They 
had all gotten up and gone away for fear the Yan- 
kees would capture them. They had heard of the 
fall of Fort Donelson, I sent those two to the hos- 



OLD DAYS IN NASHVILLE. 129 

pital at the old lunatic asylum, where Dr. Bowling 
had charge. Then I broke up my hospital Mon- 
day morning, after having kept it five months. By 
Wednesday morning everything was cleared away, 
and nobody would ever have known the house 
had been used as a hospital. 

I came into town Wednesday morning after 
breakfast. I was going down Cedar Street from 
Mrs. Porter's, and met Gen. Buell's body-guard, 
going up to the Capitol to plant the Union flag. 
We had burned the bridge before they reached 
here, and they had to cross the river on a pontoon 
bridge. I then went back to my cottage, which I 
had left in the care of my servant while I was at 
the hospital. Gen. Buell and his men were the 
first Union soldiers who came to Nashville. Then 
Gen. McCook came, and then Gen. Rosecrans, 
whose headquarters were at Gen. Zollicoffer's 
home. Gen. McCook was on Cherry Street in 
either Mr. Craighead's or Tvlrs. Buchanan's house. 
Gen. Buell's headquarters were at the St. Cloud 
Hotel. He had a body-guard of sixty men, ele- 
gantly dressed and splendidly mounted. They 
used to ride in the town and surrounding country. 
They rode out Charlotte pike one day; and if they 
had gone a half mile further, they would have been 
captured by Forrest's men. John Morgan's Cav- 
alry were on the Franklin pike, and he came into 
town one day disguised as a miller and went to 
the St. Cloud while Gen. Buell was there and sold 
flour and meal. He came in every day disguised 



loO OLD DAYS IN NASHVILLE. 

in some way, and he captured four cannons from 
Gen. Buell. Gen. McCook was very kind to us. 
I was at his office one day, and Mrs. Claiborne 
came in and said her husband had sent for a pair 
of gloves and some tobacco. He told Mrs. Clai- 
born that if the Confederates would camp on one 
side of a big pond and the Federals on the other, 
and exchange tobacco and whisk}^ they would 
soon make friends and the war would stop. But 
Gen. Rosecrans was very mean. He and a Yan- 
kee Jew cut down the trees off of several farms 
and sold the timber to the government and kept 
the monev. They cut down all the trees in Wat- 
kins Park, and used it as a mule-pen. Gens. Buell 
and McCook were gentlemen and treated us kind- 
ly, but Rosecrans and Thomas Steadman and 
Turchin were neither gentlemanl}^ nor kind. 

The first skirmish in which any of the soldiers 
were killed was on Mr. Bradford's and John M. 
Lea's farm, on the Granny White pike. There 
were three or four killed and buried on Judge 
Lea's farm, and one or two on Mr. Bradford's. 
They were afterward moved to the cemetery. 
Gen. Steadman used my cottage as his headquar- 
ters. When they left it they took almost every- 
thing I had — all my books and letters and papers. 
They cut down all my trees and took out the 
grates in the house and broke the glass out of the 
windows. I had to go down and stay at Mrs. 
Harding's. My brother and his famil}- went South, 
and I could not stay at my own home; so I came 



OLD DAYS IN NASHVILLE. ViM 

to his house, where I am now hving, and stayed 
here and took care of the place for nearly three 
years. The Yankees were camped on our lawn, 
and I stayed here myself. I went to Gen. Grain- 
ger, and he gave me protection for m}^ house and 
land. On Sunda}' I went to town and spent the 
night, and next morning Mrs. Cooper, who lived 
next door, sent for me. When I came home 1 
found Col. Kennett and his regiment camping on 
my ground. He was going to take possession of 
the house, or the " old Rebel's house," as they 
called it. When I asked for the Colonel, the}' 
told me he was not in, but I might see Lieut. - 
Col. Doane. I gave him my papers of pro- 
tection, and the Major said: "We will have this 
house before night, either for a hospital or officers' 
home." When the Confederate women went to 
the Federal officers there was generally a big scene, 
and the soldiers expected to see me cry and beg 
for my place. I handed my papers to the Colonel, 
and he said very politely that he was very sorry 
he didn't know before that I had protection pa- 
pers, and he w^ould be very much pleased if I 
would let them stay, as they would do no harm, 
but would protect me. Then the young major came 
up and said what he did. I told the Colonel they 
might remain, and then turned to the Major and 
said: "What do you want with tliis house for a 
hospital, when you already have such large nice 
ones? But I can excuse you; you must be a doc- 
tor. A soldier's place is in his tent, but doctors 



lo2 OLD DAYS IN NASHVILLE. 

must be housed." Lieut. Doane said: "Miss 
Thomas, let me introduce you to Maj. Hammon." 
I said: "O no; he must be a doctor, because a 
soldier would not want to turn a lady out of a 
home, because his place is his tent." When I in- 
sisted that he must be a doctor because he wanted 
a house, the soldiers all laughed. Whenever I 
would see him I would call him Doctor, and the 
soldiers laughed at and teased him so much that 
he resigned his position as Major and went home. 
Col. Kennett's father was a wealthy grocery-mer- 
chant in Cincinnati, and he was an educated e^en- 
tleman, as were all of his soldiers. They never 
gave me an}^ trouble, but were a great protection 
to me. Col. Kennett and his w^ife rented one of 
my rooms, and stayed in the house with me nine 
months. M}' brother had a hunting-dog of which 
I was very fond. He always slept at my door. 
One morning he stole a steak from Capt. West's 
cook, and two or three mornings after that I found 
m}' dog lying at my door dead. I called Col. 
Kennett and told him thev had poisoned m}' dog. 
He said he thought the dog had died from old age. 
He was very old, but I knew^ b}- looking at him 
that he had been poisoned. I went to the front 
door, where the officers' tents w^ere, and said: " I 
want all the officers to come here. I know you 
are gallant fellows, and when 3'ou go home you 
want to carry some trophy of your gallantry, and 
I want you to get a lock of this poor old dog's 
hair to take back with you to show that you killed 



OLD DAYS IN NASHVILLE. 13E 

something." They did not say a word, but stayed 
in their tents. When Col. Kennett went away he 
wrote me a beautiful letter, recommending me to 
the care of all soldiers, saying that I would treat 
them like a lad}-. He supplied me with ever3^thing 
I wanted at government prices, and he and his 
wife were just as nice to me as they could be. 

Capt. Marshall also camped out here. His 
camp was on Mr. Cooper's place, but he and his 
wife rented a room from me and stayed in my 
house. The penitentiary was used as a prison by 
the Yankees, and nearly every Friday morning 
they would hang one of them. Capt. Marshall 
used to go to the prison Friday to see the hanging. 
One morning he came back looking very sad, and 
he said: "Miss Jane, I saw one of the finest men 
hanged this morning I ever saw in my life. He 
was very tall and very handsome. His name was 
Moseley, and I never felt as sorry for anybody as 
I did for him." 

Capt. Marshall stayed with me for four or five 
months, and was very kind and polite to me. Aft- 
er the battle at Franklin he told me that he never 
saw such bravery as the Southern soldiers dis- 
played. 

When Sherman passed through here on his way 
to Georgia he camped in the commons just in front 
of our place. Fifteen thousand soldiers passed 
me on my way home alone. A 3^oung Yankee 
physician, seeing that I was alone, came and 
walked with me. I had a hundred-and-fifty-dollar 



134 OLD DAYS IN NASHVILLE. 

gold watch with me that Mr. Lea had sent to his 
nephew, John Bass, Jr., and twenty dollars of my 
own money. But the soldier did not trouble me 
in the least. The Yankees confiscated the house, 
and in order to keep it I had to pay rent for it. I 
paid ten dollars a month for two rooms, and the 
Yankees occupied the other room. A Yankee 
named Heeley and his wife had a room here part 
of the time. He was the grandest thief I ever 
saw. He went to Mrs. John Thompson's one day, 
and came back with his pockets and arms full of 
towels and such things. He also had a pair of 
opera-glasses that he had stolen. He stole all the 
clothes for his w^ife to wear, and she had seven 
stolen breastpins. They w^ent foraging every da}^, 
and came back with all kinds of things. There 
was one man named Treat who used m}^ serv^ant's 
room to put his stolen goods in. His wife was 
here with him, and she ate and associated with the 
negroes all the time. 

Gen. Thomas Smith, Maj. Fred Cla3'brooke, 
and Lieut. -Maj. James Thomas, with their regi- 
ments, camped at Hoover's Gap. Mr. Wheat, a 
Federal, had a compan}^ of sharpshooters near 
Murfeesboro, and they made a raid on Gen. 
Smith's camp and killed Maj. Claybrooke and 
wounded James Thomas. It was reported that 
James Thomas was killed, but they brought him 
to Murfreesboro, put him in a hospital, and aft- 
erward moved him to Nashville. Gen. McCook 
had him taken from the hospital to his uncle's, 



OLD DAYS IN NASHVILLE. 135 

Mr. Washington Cooper's, who was then Hving 
next door to our home. He w^as very severely 
wounded, and stayed there for three months. 

Where the rock for the Capitol was dug out 
there was a large hole. After the capture of Gen. 
Smith at Todd's Knob the men were brought 
here and put in that hole. They hauled out crack- 
ers in a wagon and threw them in to the soldiers 
like they would throw corn to hogs. The officers 
of the penitentiary let them put the captured sol- 
diers, who were Confederates, under the scaffolds 
for protection. x\fter Gen. Smith had surrendered 
and given up his sword, the officers to W'hom he 
surrendered struck him on the head with his 
sword and injured him so that he has never re- 
covered. 



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